WAR!
by PsycoKiller
Summary: Finished! Finally! Only four chapters, but each chapter is like twelve pages long average.
1. March

Thursday, March 24th.  
  
A high-pitched ring snapped through the air.  
  
Garet awoke to the all-too familiar sound. As he looked around at all the sleeping bags around the campfire, he noticed that Isaac's was empty.  
  
Another ring, as if metal was crashing upon metal.  
  
Quickly, Garet awakened the other seven. Grabbing his battle-axe that lay next to his bed, he began to run toward the clatter. He arrived at a clearing, and was soon joined by Felix, Alex, and the others.  
  
The sight was like nothing he had ever seen, even in his most twisted nightmares.  
  
Isaac, brandishing his trusted blade, had a gash in his left arm that exposed bone. A slain warrior was lying facedown on the ground a few feet away. Saturos, staring at Isaac with utmost concentration, was bleeding from a cut on his face as he stood several meters in front of his fellow clan members.  
  
A howl flew through the air as Saturos charged at Isaac with almost inhuman speed. Isaac nimbly dodged Saturos' rapier and spun to face his assailant.  
  
Regaining the ability to move his legs, Garet rushed to Isaac's side. Mia followed, and the rest of the gang arrived to rejoin their comrade as half of the fire clan members appeared with Saturos. The others were not too far behind.  
  
Garet glanced at Isaac and, with a grin, asked, "Why do you get to have all the fun?"  
  
"Shut up, Garet."  
  
An unknown face in the gang of Saturos charged. Felix lunged forward and, with the flick of his sword, separated the attacker's head from the rest of his body. Another decided to try his luck and attempted to come at the group from the side. Garet leapt with all his might and, with every bit of power he could find, swung his battle-axe downward, splitting open the skull of the unfortunate fool.  
  
A scream emitted from a female next to Menardi, and suddenly, both parties began to run at each other. Fearing they might hit an ally, none of the skirmishers dared to use their Psynergy. Metal clashed against metal once again, and the sounds of war were filling the dark night air. Mia swung her mace into the back of Menardi, and Sheba was quick to finish the job, swinging her staff into her neck, snapping Menardi's neck in half and almost doing the same to Sheba's staff. Picard swung his scimitar upwards, lifting one of his assailants into the air and slicing his body from his left ribcage to above his right shoulder.  
  
As the battle raged on, the group realized the best way to survive was to stay close together. Picard barked a command to the others, and they quickly formed a circle with Mia in the middle. Her Ply, they knew, would be the only thing between life and death. Alex threw her all the Psy Crystals they had to make sure she would be ready and able to keep healing. Jenna impaled another fire adept with her short sword. Ivan tempted fate and cast Whirlwind, confusing another long enough to slice open his gut. Organs spilled out and his blood mixed in with the blood of those already dead.  
  
After several minutes of fighting, there was only one more left. Saturos, sitting on a stump several meters from the carnage, sat back and prepared to cast Eruption. As he raised his arms to finish Isaac and company, Garet raised his arms and, with what little strength he had, swung his axe. As he let go, he collapsed on the ground, too tired to continue fighting.  
  
A second seem to last years.  
  
The axe hit its mark, burying itself into the chest of the final opponent. Saturos flew back several feet and stopped his flight lying on his back. Alex teleported to the now dead Saturos and retrieved the axe for Garet.  
  
Isaac looked toward Felix. "I could really use a strong drink right about now. How about you?"  
  
  
  
Wednesday, March 30th.  
  
Dusk was coming fast. Mia was humming a few bars of 'Mercury Lighthouse Theme' as they were walking into the main port city on Lemuria. They had stored the Lemurian boat along with Felix's vessel there, and they were getting ready to sail to the Mars Lighthouse. It had been six days since the encounter with the Army of Saturos, or so it had become to be called by the group. Isaac, with his arm bandaged and wound covered with an herb, couldn't help but wonder how long the voyage would take.  
  
"Hey, it's getting late. You guys want to stop at the inn before we leave? We're running low on herbs and nuts too" Mia said. She had been responsible for keeping everyone as healthy as possible, although Alex helped out a lot with the job.  
  
"About time someone said so. I didn't want to whine, but I'm tired and I want a bed. I'm sick of sleeping on the ground" Garet whimpered pathetically.  
  
Picard went up to the innkeeper and reserved rooms for them. Being the only one to speak Lemurian, he did all the talking to the shopkeepers in towns while they were on the island. "They only had four rooms open, so someone will have to triple bunk."  
  
Mia, Sheba, and Jenna looked at each other. "We'll do it," Jenna told the boys. "SLUMBER PARTY!"  
  
Ivan groaned. "Hey girls. Maybe you can try to go to bed before midnight tonight. We have a long day for us tomorrow." "Okay Sheba piped in cheerily. "We'll try." She giggled.  
  
"Great."  
  
  
  
Thursday, March 31st.  
  
"Rise and shine!" Alex was awake and ready, along with Felix and Sheba. "It's already 6 a.m.! We want all the time we can get to sail."  
  
Mia walked out of her room, followed Closely by Jenna. "What for breakfast?" Mia asked inquisitively.  
  
"Eggs, pancakes, and sausage." Sheba responded.  
  
After the meal, Ivan offered to clean up as they go and get the boats ready. Felix, Isaac, and Garet went off to the docks.  
  
"Four hundred coins!? That's absurd!" Garet was shocked at the price. "You only had them for three weeks! That's robbery!"  
  
"Well," started the dock owner, "someone stole one of my personal ships, and I need to pay for it somehow."  
  
"Why didn't you just send your guards after him?" asked Felix.  
  
"I did. But then he shot this weird fireball from his hand and it just trashed him completely. He is at the sanctum right now."  
  
The trio looked at each other and gasped. Had one of Saturos' men escaped with his life? Had he been able to return to the North? Garet tossed the dock owner the coins and the three ran back to the inn.  
  
Felix bursts into the inn, breathing hard and sweating, and shouts to the others, "Get ready! We sail in twenty minutes!" Ivan nearly drops the final dish he is holding. "Why the rush?" We've got a problem," Garet answers for Felix. "We think one of Saturos' friends fled back to his homeland." Picard looks up at Garet. "I was afraid of this. But do not worry. I have a plan. We need to go to the blacksmith. He's an old friend of mine."  
  
The boys rushed into the blacksmith's shop, led by Picard. "Hey Jerome. You get my order ready?" "Of course. I'll bill you're family. You can take them now." "Thanks, Jerome. Hey guys," Picard glanced toward them. "Go around to the rear of the shop. You'll know what to get."  
  
Garet walked up to Picard and whispered something to him. "Can you get me a metal rod, a good knife, and some wood? We might need it on our trip." He then hurried out and around the store.  
  
Behind the store, he met up with the others. "Holy crap. Let's move them onto the ship ASAP. The ammo must be as long as my arm!" The group started to move the new toys toward the docks. Picard caught up, and gave the requested supplies to Garet. "Remember, we need ten on each ship."  
  
At the dock, the ladies finished with packing the ship with the normal supplies. They saw the boys pushing their new weapons toward the ships, and they ran over to them. "Where the heck did you get those?!" Mia exclaimed. "And how much did you spend on them!?" "Don't worry. I already had them specially ordered for a ship. I was going to buy one, but then you came along and already had some. They didn't cost us anything up-front."  
  
The dockhands assisted in helping the group load the cargo and putting them in place. When it was done, both ships had ten per ship, five per side. They were twenty, beautiful ballistae set up to fire at ships coming at any side. "Now we are ready for the 'wrath' of the fire clan of the north." Picard said with a smile. "Now, how will we divide the bunks on the ship? "Well, I am the only one who knows how to sail my ship, so I will be on there." Felix stated. "I will command the Lemurian ship, because I know a few secrets about it that you don't." Picard told the others. "I'll go with you, Picard" Mia said to him aloud. "I can teach you two how to teleport because you are both Mercury Adepts, like me." "Well, I want to be with my brother, so I'll be on his ship." Garet glanced at Jenna. "I'll go with Jenna and Felix." Ivan and Sheba both said at the same time, "I'll go on the Lemurian ship." Sheba giggled and Ivan blushed. Isaac, knowing that the choice was already made, just pointed toward Felix's ship and nodded.  
  
After a few hours of sailing, the sun was high in the sky and the salty sea air filled all of the rooms aboard both sea vessels. Garet had been sharpening one of the wooden poles that Picard had purchased for him, and it was looking quite nice so far. Noon was arriving, and Garet was hungry. Felix slowed his ship's speed and lined it up next to the Lemurian one. "Ahoy, there!" Garet shouted. "You seem to have stocked all of the food." "So we have," Ivan shouted back. "And we'll share it as long as you promise never to say 'ahoy there' ever again!" Chuckles and laughter came from both ships. "Fine, if that's how you want it." Garet jumped from one ship to the other and walked into the kitchen. After about five minutes, he exited and returned to his ship. "Now, if I only knew how to cook." Jenna, seeing that Garet would probably set fire to the ship, rushed into the kitchen after him. Felix and Isaac followed. "I'll get that," She said. Garet just smiled back, and Felix gave him a scolding look and just nodded his head 'no'. Meanwhile, Mia and Sheba began preparations for the meal on their ship. Ivan entered along with Alex, and they offered to take over the duties of chef. The two girls smiled and left the kitchen. "Do you think Sheba even noticed me?" Ivan asked hopefully. "Of course she did." Ivan's face brightened. "Really?"  
  
After the simultaneous meals, the anchors were raised and work continued. Garet took his post atop the crow's nest, and Alex teleported to his. Felix and Picard took the helm on their crafts, and the others cleaned up after the meals. Suddenly, Alex shouted, "There is another ship sailing straight towards us! I can't make out who is on it though." Garet hollered, "I see it too. Who do you think it could be?" Sheba had a worried look on her face. "Could it be the fire clan?" she thought. Mia charged into the storage room and retrieved the weapons and armour of all those aboard. She tossed them into a pile on the main deck and grabbed her mace and Feathered Robe while Sheba grabbed her staff and Robe. Both ships turned herd to portside and dropped anchors. "Mia! Sheba! I think it's best if you two go below decks while we suit up. We might need the ballistae" Ivan told them. All crewmen of the two magnificent ships prepared for another battle. Readying their ballistae, Isaac and Jenna opened the firing ports. "Lets hope we don't have to use these." Isaac said.  
  
The unknown boats pulled up and dropped anchors several meters away from the two ships and out popped Iodem. "Hey, Isaac! How have you been?" "Iodem! What are you doing here?" Sheba, Mia, and Jenna all popped out from below decks. "Just sailing around looking for you. Have you fou-" He suddenly stopped. "Sheba! And you are with the people who took her, aren't you?! Isaac, why are you with these kidnappers!?" "They are nice people! They rescued me from you and Babi and Tolbi! You are the kidnappers!" Sheba screamed. Ivan grabbed his Kusanagi. "Yeah, you took her from her home in Lalivero." Picard ran from the pile of armament brandishing his scimitar. "So you are Iodem, the one who works for Babi. Babi is greedy and wanted the immortalizing drought from my home. You will have to go through me to get it." Iodem stared at Picard. "You're Lemurian? I see. But that is irrelevant. Babi is dead, and he asked me to sail for Lemuria once the Babi Lighthouse was complete. I am to finish his plans for the glory of Tolbi after I complete Babi's final wish." "But you still want the drought for yourself? Are you prepared to give up you position in Tolbi for it?" "I want no drought. I was sent here to find Isaac and his friends." He turned toward Isaac. " Babi's last wishes were for me to help you on your journey. Do you accept the assistance of me and my three ships?" Isaac looked at Felix, then Garet, then Sheba. "It isn't my choice." Alex climbed down from the crow's nest and walked toward Sheba. "Do you trust them enough to let them join?" Sheba thought for a minute. "If Babi is dead, then he can't harm me. Anyways, I've got you all in case he tries something. I guess we can let him join us. "Excellent! I'd like you all to meet my comrades. This is Jonathan, Christopher, and Robert. Over there is Cai, Barque, Liam, Duke, and Joshua," he said, pointing to the farthest ship. "On the other ship is Auger, Bahzell, Aaron, and Rachael. Liam captains his vessel, and Aaron captains his." 


	2. April

Saturday, April 2nd.  
  
Excerpt from the diary of Sheba.  
  
It's been two days since Iodem joined us. He seems to be sincere, but I still don't fully trust him. Hopefully he will be of some use to us other than his maps, but until then, I am keeping a close watch on him. Ivan seems to be acting weird when he is around me. Boys, I just don't want to know. Anyway, I have been getting bored with all this sailing, and we haven't seen land since we left Lemuria. Iodem claims that he had been on water for over two weeks before he ran into us. We have been trying to ration out food, but it hasn't helped much. I hope we don't run out before we run find land. Water hasn't been a problem, because every time we get low, Ivan summons a small storm and we are set for several days. Mia was experimenting with some healing items and has come up with a mixture that revives, heals, and cleanses poison. Good thing we have her with us.  
  
  
  
Tuesday, April 5th.  
  
Excerpt from the diary of Mia.  
  
Iodem seems really nervous for some reason. His men seem to be wanting a fight. No matter where they go and what they do, they carry around their swords and armour. Rachael is the only girl that Iodem brought with him. She is a really good cook, and I think she used to work at a sanctum because she has a lot of herbs and elixirs. She even let me have some! Isaac has taken to her, and has even said more than five words in a single day!  
  
  
  
Friday, April 8th.  
  
The fleet started sailing earlier that usual. Breakfast was hearty and delicious, thanks to the food Iodem had brought along. They still rationed themselves, but not nearly as much as they used to. Suddenly, a shout emitted from the crow's nest of Liam's second ship. Joshua had seen something. Alex teleported up to his post as Garet, Bahzell, and Jonathan scrambled to theirs. They never expected to see what they did. Four vessels, one Lemurian, were sailing directly towards them. There were at least six men per ship. Even though Isaac and company outnumbered them, only half of their allies were Adepts. More than likely all aboard the Fire Clans' ships were Adepts, and angry at that. The flotilla of five turned hard to starboard side and readied their ballistae. The twenty-two men aboard the vessels looked at each other, not sure what to expect. Suddenly, the Adepts stepped forward and cast their most powerful spells. "Ragnarok!" "Pyroclasm!" "Spark Plasma!" "Ice Missile!" "Stone Barrage!" "Dragon Claw!" "Tempest!" "Frozen Wall!" "Ice Bolt!"  
  
All attacks hit their targets, and one enemy vessel began to quickly sink. The crew jumped onto a ship next to the wreckage.  
  
The non-adepts just looked at the Psynergists with awe. "Get ready!" Iodem barked. "Those guys can do that too!" Several soldiers ran to the lower decks, shouting, "The ballistae are ready to fire! Waiting for your signal!" "Not yet!" Iodem hollered. "We need to make each shot count!" The ships came closer. "FIRE AT WILL!" A barrage of steel-tipped bolts flew from the sides of the ships. All watched and hoped that they would do enough damage to at least scare away their assailants. The bolts penetrated the hulls of the ships, but not nearly enough damage was dealt to sink anything. The ships continued to advance.  
  
Isaac glanced toward Garet. "We need some defense. Get everyone their armour!" Ivan stepped up. "We can do better. We have djinn." All at once, the three boys unleashed Granite, Flash, Corona, Forge, Breeze, and Zephyr. The army was protected by firewalls and earthen barriers. Their defense rose along with their agility and attack. "Now, we are ready to fight." Iodem hollered, "FIRE AGAIN!" Another barrage of bolts bellowed from the ships. Garet yelled, "Flame Wall!" Picard, stunned that Garet would do such a thing, turned toward him. "Are you crazy!?" Felix piped in, "No. Look at the bolts! They are on fire!" Picard turned just in time to watch the flaming arrow to crash into the hull of one of the ships. "Hmm." Another set of bolts spewed from the side. The ships were close enough for the army to get a good view. A bolt impaled an adept in the chest, throwing him back twenty feet and impaling another. Another bolt tore through the skull of another adept and crashed into the post the crow's nest was atop.  
  
The flaming ship made a direct collision course with Liam's ship. "Nooo!" he shouted as he ran to his vessel. A crash was eminent, but the foolish man kept trying to save his ship. It caught fire and the crash split the hull. Engulfed in their rage for the loss of the ship, Cai, Barque, Liam, Duke, and Joshua charged aboard the enemy craft. Viciously they tore through the men aboard. Never before had anyone seen such carnage. The men hacked down every man without thought or restraint. One man had his arm sliced off with surgical precision, followed by a stroke that pierced the man's heart. Another had been cut through the gut, completely separating his top half from his lower. In an attempt to flee, another was hit in the back with the thrown sword of the angry Liam. A sneaky adept was ably to get behind Cai, and broke his neck with his hands. Grapping the dead man's sword, he assaulted Duke and stabbed him in the back of the head. Barque saw another trying to jump to a fellow ship, and so just before the leap, he severed the man's legs off. The legless man flew off the side of the ship and landed in the water. A shark quickly thanked Barque by devouring the man zealously. Joshua had impaled two others with his Trident. Suddenly, Joshua fell to his knees, dead from the wound caused by an enemy sword.. Barque saw the attacker and decapitated him with ease. The final man aboard climbed up to the crow's nest. Liam and Barque retreated to their own vessel and emptied all contents or both the sinking vessels onto the deck of Felix's ship. Both Liam's vessel and the flaming one sank, and the poor soul trapped atop the crow's nest attempted to swim to a friendly craft, but Liam knocked him unconscious with a large piece of wood he threw. Sharks quickly made him into a nice meal.  
  
Another vessel was coming within range for her crew to board Iodem's second ship. Auger and Bahzell unsheathed their swords and charged. Barque and Liam were not far behind. Jonathan and Christopher joined them aboard Liam's vessel, and jumped onto the invading liner. A wall of fire consumed Liam and Auger, incinerating them instantly. Barque and Bahzell hacked away at the flame user vivaciously, then turned toward another crewman. The claymore carried by Christopher severed the right arm and leg of the unsuspecting man. Jonathan's foot finished the job, crushing the adept's chest and stopping his heart. A long scythe swung around the corner of the cabin, imbedding itself into the face of Christopher. Jonathan swung his axe and emptied the contents of the unknown man's chest out onto the deck. Aaron, who had hopped aboard after the other six, hurled his javelin into the chest of an oncoming clan member. Immediately he ran and retrieved his weapons, just in time to be smashed in the head by an unfamiliar mace.  
  
Another barrage of bolts shot from the ballistae. Impaling another adept aboard the vessel Bahzell was on, a bolt suddenly changed direction from the new burden and fell. It punctured the bottom the ship, and the liner began to take on water. A stray bolt hammered Jonathan in the arm, severing it off but not killing Jonathan. With his remaining arm, he hurled his javelin across the water at the other enemy sea vehicle. It hit its mark, piercing the heart of an inattentive warrior. Bahzell took a stroke at the remaining warrior on the sinking vessel with his broad sword, dealing much damage but not killing him. The soldier struck back, swinging his sword. It was blocked with Bahzell's blade, and Bahzell swung his sword through the stomach of the soldier. Intestines painted the wooden floor red. The one- armed soldier attempted to return to Felix's boat, but was hit with his own javelin in mid flight. Jonathan plunged into the now red water.  
  
The final opposing ship rammed into the remaining ship once commanded by Aaron. Bahzell hurdled onto the boat, but two swords were quickly boring into his flesh. A severed artery shot blood across the deck as he fell to the ground. Cai, Duke, and Robert attempted to slay the group of Fire Clan mariners, but they met the same fate as Bahzell. Ivan and Mia quickly put several djinn on stand-by, and then summoned Atlanta and Neptune. A shower of arrows rained from the sky, almost completely decimating the unfriendly boat. Five of the six crewmen made it to the abandoned sinking allied ship, but one arrow crashed into an unfortunate person, tearing him to pieces and leaving nothing but small shreds of flesh. The water from Neptune crashed into the boat now occupied by antagonistic forces, dooming it to become underwater wreckage. Isaac and Felix lunged forward and detached a man's arms. The man stumbled backwards and Mia's mace smashed into his chest, knocking him off the cruiser. He flew back and hit his head on a floating piece of wood. Garet swung his axe and split another man in half long-ways. Alex teleported behind the adversaries and kicked one as hard as possible. Picard launched his scimitar in the air, and it rooted itself in the torso of the man. The sword of Iodem sliced down the spinal column of another man who was looking in the wrong direction for an attack. With only one left, all of the sailors hopped aboard Felix's cruiser. Suddenly, the man raised his arm and fired a blast toward Sheba. "Sheba! Look out!" Ivan ran and pushed her out of the way of the fireball. Ivan took the full force of the explosion. He flew back through the wooden room known as the kitchen. Pots and pans were thrown all over the room. Ivan landed on the table and slid until he fell off of it. His body stopped sliding and just lay there. Splintered wood was sprawled all around him. "Garet returned his attention to the foe. "NOO!" The weapons of all those aboard were upon him, and his lifeless carcass fell over in a hunched position. Sheba ran toward Ivan, closely followed by Mia and the others. "Is he.?" Mia looked at her. "Alive? Yes, but barely. Isaac, Iodem, carry him to the cabin. Alex, Rachael, get every herb, every potion you can find. Felix, get me some bandages." Isaac and Iodem carefully lifted the body and carried it to Ivan's bed. Sheba began to cry. Jenna walked over to her and they hugged. "He'll be fine. Don't worry." Her sobbing slowed, and eventually subsided. "He saved me." Alex and Rachael returned, each with an armful of various items, and Felix rushed in after them. "Good. And you got some splints" Mia said. "Now help me with reviving him." Isaac stood up. "I'll help too. Picard, we will need a few Psy Crystals." Picard soon returned, and handed them to Isaac. A splash came from outside. Felix and Picard, weapons drawn, stormed out of the room. They saw Garet had thrown the dead bodies overboard, and had dove in the water himself. "Damn, Garet! What are you doing?!" "Well, I didn't want that jerk's dead corpse on the ship, and we will need to repair the kitchen wall with the wood from these useless ships. I mean, where else will we eat?" "You're a stupid idiot that eats too much." "Hey. Some armour and weapons. We might need those too. And we can trade them for food and money if we ever reach port." "Yup. I agree with you, Felix. A really stupid idiot."  
  
  
  
Monday, April 11th.  
  
Ivan awoke in pain and unable to move. "What's going on? What day is it? Why can't I move?" The sudden movements startled Mia. "IVAN! You're awake! How do you feel?" "Like the Venus Lighthouse just crumbled on top of me, then they build Babi Lighthouse on top of the rubble." Mia smiled. "Do you remember anything?" "Kind of. The fire clan attacked, and then the soldiers fought, and then one guy fired at Sheba! How is she? Is she hurt? Can I see her?" "Easy there. She wasn't hurt. You pushed her out of the way." "I did? Whoa. And that's why I can't move anything of mine, isn't it?" "That's right. Luckily Rachael and I were here. You were nearly dead." "Thanks, Mia. By the way, where is Sheba?" "Hold on. I'll go get her." Mia left the room, and Ivan could hear her shout, 'Ivan's awake!'" Cheers erupted from the other ships. Sheba ran into the room. "Ivan! How are you feeling?" she asked with a tear in her eye. "Okay, I guess. How long have I been out?" "Three days today. Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I can't seem to move anything though." "The blast broke half the bones in your body. You shouldn't want to move after that." Ivan smiled. "No, I guess you're right. How are you?" "Better now that your awake." She grabbed his hand. Ivan turned red. Jenna, Felix, Garet, and Isaac walked into the room. "Hey, Ivan. That was some crazy stuff you did. You okay?" Garet inquired. "I'm fine. How much closer are we to land? I want to at least get out of bed sometime soon." "We're about two weeks away still, if we've stayed on course. We've decided to stop at a small ocean-side city on the southeastern coast of Gondowan. There we can rest while on dry land. Mia and Rachael want to get more herbs and nuts, too" Felix announced. "Yeah. And there is a special tournament for Adepts in a city about a two week's walk from the port." Garet piped in. "Oh. Sounds like fun" was the response. "Well, thank goodness you're alive. Mia and Rachael had a real workout caring for you" Jenna said. Picard, Alex, and Rachael walked into the bunk. Garet turned to Isaac, Felix, and Jenna, and said, "We have to go back to work." He turned toward Ivan. "See you later." Felix and Jenna turned to Ivan. "Bye" they said in unison. Isaac waved and the four returned to their vessel. Picard just looked at Ivan. "You got some big ones, my friend." The five in the room laughed. Ivan glanced around. "Hope me being out hasn't slowed us down too much." "Not all that much. It's good to see you're moving again. You just lying there was freaking me out" Alex told him. A yell came from Mia. "Sheba! Can I talk to you for a second? You too, Picard! And bring Alex!" Picard turned to Ivan. "Get better soon." He left toward Mia's voice. Sheba looked at the temporarily paraplegic Adept. "Maybe this will help." She gave him a kiss on his cheek, and he blushed again. She left the room. Alex glanced toward Ivan. "I told you she noticed you. She has been sitting by you ever since Friday. Lucky man, you are." He left the room. Ivan smiled. "You have no idea."  
  
  
  
Tuesday, April 12th.  
  
Excerpt from the diary of Sheba.  
  
Ivan woke up yesterday. I am so excited! I am so happy he is alright. I got up the courage to give him a kiss, too. He seemed to like it. Tomorrow night I plan to stay up late and just talk with him. Mia's Ply and herbs have helped, and the fact that Ivan is an advanced Adept helped him get better twice as fast, so Mia said the casts can come off tonight! I can't wait until tomorrow!  
  
  
  
Wednesday, April 13th.  
  
Ivan was excused from all normal duties because of his ordeal. Anything short of psynergetic movements and abilities and talking caused him some degree of pain, so he tried to do as little movement as possible. He had washed his clothes, along with everyone else's, so that he would at least feel like he wasn't burdening anyone with his lack of work. Felix and Isaac kept making sure that he was still standing and hadn't collapsed under his own weight. They were surprised at how much he did under sheer willpower. Garet had fashioned him a set of crutches with the wood left over from repairing the kitchen wall. Picard had helped Garet complete the repairs to take his mind off of Ivan's condition during the time Isaac was is his comatose state. Garet, with all the gear he took from the cadavers of the fire clan, had made himself a sturdy coat-of-arms that would fetch a large sum of money. He also retrieved all of the ballistae bolts he could find that weren't charred to a crisp. His weapon collection grew to quite an impressive size. Ivan walked over to Garet. "How long do you think it would take you t make a small bench?" "Oh, about three hours. Why?" "Do you have enough wood to make one?" "Yeah. I salvaged all the wood I could get my hands on from the other wreckages. Why?" "I need you to do me a favor and make one as quickly as possible. It needs to seat two people." "No problem. It'll be done in about two and a half hours." "Thanks. I really appreciate it."  
  
"Lunch time!" Alex heard from the kitchen. The crew of all three ships retreated to the Lemurian liner. The group decided it would be more efficient to use one kitchen for all the meals so that Mia could spend time returning Ivan to consciousness, so each ship took turns hosting meals. Now that Ivan was back, they continued in order to make everything more efficient. Felix sat at the head of the table. Jenna sat to his left, and Garet sat next to her. Next was Sheba, and Ivan took his seat by her side. Iodem plopped down to his left. Isaac was at Felix's right, and with him sat Rachael. Next was Alex, then Mia, and finally Picard.  
  
They ate the meal with much noise, as usual. They talked about weather, ocean currents, wind patterns, and other unimportant things. Ivan and Sheba were relatively quiet, as usual, only speaking when they were asked a question or when their opinions had an impact on the others. No one noticed that Ivan was eating with only his left hand, while Sheba was eating only with her right.  
  
After the meal, Sheba walked up to Mia as she washed the dishes. "Do you think you could bunk with Picard and Alex tonight? I want to talk to Ivan and I'm not sure how long it will take." "Sure. I don't see any problem with that. I'll just keep my staff handy in case either of them tries anything." The two girls laughed, and Sheba thanked her as she left the room.  
  
With lunch complete, worked resumed. Garet stood at his post, scouring the horizon for any ships or land. Alex did the same, and Picard, Iodem, and Felix steered the ships so that they could stay on course. The others cleaned up around the decks and cabins. Isaac and Jenna had the cabins squeaky clean, and they had already started to scrub the decks when storm clouds began to roll in. "Put out the tubs and buckets! We are going to have rain!" Garet shouted. Isaac, Jenna, Alex, Mia, Sheba, Ivan, and Rachael put out everything that would be able to carry fresh water. Felix and Isaac traded turns steering their ship, and Picard and Alex did so on theirs. Garet offered to trade turns with Iodem, and Iodem accepted his gracious offer. Mia was shocked with Garet's generous offer. "Well," Garet revealed. "I am really trying to get on Jenna's good side." Ivan wanted to go up to Garet and say, "Tell me about it" but he restrained himself. Sheba had to run over to the kitchen, and when she returned, she was soaked and shivering. Ivan quickly removed his warm Feathered Robe and wrapped it around her. "Is that better?" he asked. She smiled and replied, "Yes. Thank you."  
  
The rain subsided about two hours before nightfall. The group collected the fresh water and dumped it into the giant barrels they stored their drinking, cooking, and cleaning water in. "This should last us at least a week" Iodem said matter-of-factly.  
  
Nightfall was coming, and oil lamps were lit. Ivan sat in bed, and Sheba lay in the cot across from him. They could hear Felix and Garet playing cards. Garet was a poor loser and was always complaining that Felix cheated. Picard and Alex were refining their teleportation techniques, and Mia was concocting another vial of her special remedy for Ivan. Iodem was sound asleep as usual, as was Jenna. Isaac was on Iodem's ship talking to Rachael, like he does quite often now. Ivan stood up and walked over to Sheba. He held her hand and led her out the door. They walked to the front of the ship, where Garet's bench was, sat down, and Ivan said, "Have you ever taken the time to just watch the sunset?" Sheba looked into his eyes. "Not really. I've never really leave the cabin after dinner, so I never had the chance."  
  
Sheba and Ivan sat there for over an hour, just talking and enjoying themselves. They were covered in Ivan's robe, and had fallen asleep on the bench. Isaac, who had to cross over Picard's craft to get back to his own, saw the two and smiled. He thought to himself, "Kids these days." He turned around to look back to where Rachael was standing, and she waved at him. Isaac pointed to where Ivan and Sheba were, and Rachael smiled. Isaac returned to his cabin.  
  
  
  
Thursday, April 14th.  
  
Jenna was the first to wake up. She wandered outside and saw Ivan and Sheba cuddled up on the bench. She smiled to herself, and entered the kitchen to begin breakfast. Garet soon awoke and walked out of his cabin. The smell of fish filled his nose. He looked around, and saw the couple on the seat he made. "Now that's good craftsmanship," he thought. He followed the scent of food and entered the dining hall. He offered to help with the meal, and he quickly began go cut up the various vegetation they had stored with his short sword. "Garet! What are you doing?!" "I'm chopping the carrots. What does it look like?" Jenna slapped his arm lightly. "Ever heard of a knife?" "Kitchen knives are too small. I need a real blade." "Loser." "Hey. Don't start with me." They laughed. "You see Ivan and Sheba? They're so cute together," Jenna said. "Yeah. How long have they been like that? You know, all mushy and stuff?" "Grow up. They are more mature than you are." "I am grown up. I am just wondering how long they've been 'together'. I'm just curious." "Well, I don't know. I know she finally realized how much he like her after that fight." "Ah. That's all you needed to say." Isaac walked into the room. "Something smells good." "He can speak! It's a sign from the heavens, brothers and sisters!" Garet started to say like an evangelist. Isaac proceeded to punch him in the arm. "Shut up." Rachael entered and gave Isaac a smile. He smiled back. "Guess who's still there." Jenna looked at her. "Still?" Isaac looked at her. "Yeah. We saw them there last night." Jenna looked confused. "Last night? We? Oh, yeah. Never mind." Garet looked puzzled, as usual. Soon Ivan entered with Sheba. "Hey everyone. How's it going?" Garet glanced over. "Just fine. You?" "Same." "Good to hear." He was obviously trying not to laugh. Isaac punched Garet in the arm again. "What was that for?!" "Because I wanted to." Felix, obviously still tired, stumbled into the room. "Good morning." He almost tripped over a chair, and Isaac sat him down at the table. Picard, Mia, and Alex strolled into the room. "Ah, look who's awake" Mia said, looking toward Sheba and Ivan. "Hope you didn't stay up too late." Breakfast was almost ready by the time Iodem woke up. "I'm too old to be up this early." Everyone chuckled. They sat down and began to eat. Ivan had Mia's special remedy instead of water. It tasted horrible, but he choked it down. He seemed to feel a little better almost instantly. He had a glass of water to help get the taste of the medicine out of his mouth. They finished breakfast and cleaned up.  
  
After breakfast Ivan offered to try and steer the Lemurian craft. Picard agreed to teach Ivan how to sail, and soon they were on their way. Ivan noticed a small, glowing rock by the steering wheel. "What's that?" he asked. "Psynergetic Amplifier. All Adept ships have them. It allows the ship to be moved with greater ease at the cost of less Psynergy. Makes driving a lot easier. But it needs to be planted in a sturdy place, because if it isn't, it may start to float. And we don't want that to fly away, do we?" "No. I guess not."  
  
Alex saw a ship coming from straight ahead. Iodem saw it and hollered toward the others, "Don't worry. It has white sails. That means it's a merchant ship." Sighs of relief came from several people. They slowed down, and Iodem waved down the merchants. "Have you anything to trade?" he asked. The captain walked up. "Yes, actually. We found these odd crystals that we are willing to trade for some armour. He pulled out a handful of Psy Crystals. Mia recognized them immediately. "Hold on." She turned around. "Garet! Go and get some of the armour of yours!" Garet disappeared into the floating dormitory and returned with a fine piece of plate mail and a short sword. "You wouldn't happen to have any herbs, and some various food items, would you?" Mia asked. "Today is your lucky day, miss." He turned and nodded to another man, and he quickly disappeared below decks. He soon returned with a basket of food items and herbs. "Will you trade that food, herbs, and crystals for this armour and sword?" Mia inquired. "Certainly. We have been looking for some quality armour for some time now. Thank you." They exchanged items. He began to return to his ship until Iodem asked, "How far away is land?" The captain turned to him and said, "The last port we were at is straight ahead for you. It'll be about a week until you get there." Another round of sighs was heard. "Thank you" Iodem said. "It was out pleasure." He returned to his ship's helm and all four ships continued on their way. Mia stocked the supplies, and Garet waved goodbye to his war trophies.  
  
The rest of the day's voyage continued without any interruptions, other than meals. Bunking returned to how it was before the big sea battle. Night fell, and once again the lamps were lit. Alex looked over towards Ivan. "Hey. So what exactly did you and Sheba do last night? I mean, you two wanted to be alone, right?" He nudged Picard, and they both started to chant, "Go Ivan, go Ivan." The three boys laughed, and said, "Nah. It isn't like that at all. Sheba's not like that." "Oh, I see Ivan is the little gentleman, isn't he?" More laughter.  
  
Meanwhile, Garet and Felix had their usual card game, but this time Isaac and Jenna joined them. "Do you have any kings?" "Go fish." "YOU LIE! I KNOW YOU HAVE A KING!" Garet had his nightly temper tantrum until Felix revealed his hand. No kings were to be seen. "You hid it when my back was turned!" I win!" Isaac proceeded to punch him in the arm, and Isaac and Felix dragged him out of the room kicking and screaming. The two tied him up with a length of rope to the large pole in the middle of the ship. "You can't do this to me! I am an important part of this team!" Felix turned his head. "You might want to get some sleep while you can." He laughed and the two hostage takers returned to the cabin. "What did you do with Garet?" Jenna asked. "Well, he's a bit tied up in things at the moment, so he won't be with us for the rest of the game." Felix laughed again. "You guys are so mean to Garet. Where did you stash him this time?" "I don't know what you're talking about" Felix said with a sly grin. Jenna left the room. "Garet! Where are you? Hey Garet!" A voice coming from her right responded "Over here! By the mast! S.O.S.!" She laughed to herself as she walked over to him. "I'll untie you only if you promise to stop accusing people of cheating." "But it keeps the game interesting." She started to turn away, but Garet said, "Okay, Okay. You win. I'll stop accusing people of cheating." She smiled. "Good! Now let's see that knot. Whoa. The really didn't want you to get out this time. This is a really hard knot!" "I have a knife under my mattress is my bunk, if you need it." "Hold on." She left the deck for a minute, and returned with his knife. "This should do it." "Hey. Watch where you're cutting. That's my ribcage right there!" "Stop whining." The ropes soon fell and Garet turned to her. "Thanks. I'll put the knife back." She handed over the knife. "Now, where are those two?" "Don't even think about it." Before she could finish her sentence Garet was off toward the cabins. She ran after him. He entered the room and gave his two assailants an evil stare. They laughed hysterically. He went to his bed and returned the blade. "You'll regret that." They laughed harder. Jenna rushed into the room. "Oh, good. He hasn't gone berserk."  
  
  
  
Friday, April 15th.  
  
Isaac and Felix awoke unable to move. During the night Garet, with some assistance from Jenna, had tied them to their beds. "This isn't funny!" Felix shouted. Laughs were heard from the kitchen. "Yes, it is!" Garet returned. "Untie me right now! I'm warning you!" "Are you now?" Isaac has managed to loosen the restraints enough to get one arm free. He grabbed his sword and slit the rope. After he freed himself, he cut Felix's rope. They barged in the kitchen, and Garet and Jenna turned around. "I knew I should have moved the weapons. Oh well. Too late now." He began to laugh. Felix had an angry look on his face. "Never do that again." "What goes around comes around." Isaac sat down at his usual spot. Alex entered the room. "What was all that noise? It's like a stampede just ran through here!" "Nothing important." Garet laughed harder.  
  
After the morning meal, work again recommenced. Ivan, who had given up on trying to learn to sail, had began to wash the dirty clothes. Sheba, having finished all her daily chores early, helped Mia with hers. When they were done, they left to go talk with Rachael. "So, what's the deal with you and Isaac?" Mia posed. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound surprised. "Come on. We all know about him staying up late and going over to your boat. Spill it." "Nothing is going on between us." "Oh, right." The three girls laughed. "Fine. He and I, well, we are kind of, well, I don't know how to explain it." "It's like Sheba and Ivan, right?" Sheba glanced over. "How did I get into this?" "I needed an example, and you're the best ones I know." "Well, it is a little more than Sheba and Ivan." "A little more? Like, how much more? You didn't..." "Of course not." "Then why the attempt at secrecy?" "You know Isaac. Always the shy one." "True." Isaac was walking past. He saw the trio of females and tried to act like he didn't notice them. "Hey, Isaac!" Mia called. "Come here real quick. Just for a sec." Isaac reluctantly hopped over from one ship to the other, nearly taking a swim and landing with a face full of wood. Rachael rushed over to him and helped him regain his balance. "You alright?" "I'm fine." "No you're not. Your chin's bleeding." He took out a small handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his chin. "Now it isn't. Why'd you call me over?" "Well," Mia began, "we all know that you two have been staying up late together. Why didn't you tell us?" "Well, you never asked, did you? And anyway, I was going to. I just never got the chance. How did you all know?" Sheba and Mia looked at him with that 'are you kidding me?' glance. "It was sort of obvious, especially when you had to cross our ship to get back to yours." "Oh, yeah, right. Who else knows?" "Well, Picard, Alex, Ivan, and Jenna for sure. I'm not sure about Felix or Iodem." "Whoa. All of them? At least not Garet. Who knows how long it would take for him to shut up about us." A yell came from Felix's ship. "Hey, Isaac! Stop flirting and get your tail over here. I need that knife from my room." "See my point?"  
  
After dinner on Iodem's ship, Garet, Felix, Isaac, and Jenna were once again playing cards. Garet looked up. "Isaac. Do you have any threes?" "Go fish." "WHA-" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Jenna's foot smashed into his, and he did his best not to yell out in pain. He let out a small whimper. His trembling had picked up a card. Felix looked at Garet in surprise. 'Hmm. No whining. What did Jenna do to him? Threaten to beat him up?' he thought to himself. The game continued until it was once again Garet's turn. "Felix. Do you have any sixes?" "Go fish." Garet didn't make a sound. He just picked up another card, his hand still trembling. Felix was in pure shock. 'What the heck is going on?' he wondered. The rest of the game went on without a problem, with Garet as silent as a mouse unless it was his turn or he was asked for a card. He even gave the cards out without any accusations.  
  
After the game, Jenna walked up to Garet. "Sorry about your foot. How is it right now?" Garet peeked over to her. "Okay, I guess. And I want it to stay that way. Please don't hurt me." Jenna laughed. "I'm not. At least, not tonight. Now, get to bed. Your parents would kill me if they knew how late I'm letting you stay up." They both laughed, and Garet stood up to go to his cabin. "Oh, Garet. Sorry about your foot. But we had a deal, and you were going to break it." "Don't worry about it. It might heal sometime soon. Hopefully."  
  
  
  
Saturday, April 16th.  
  
For once, Garet was the first awake. He left the lodging and stared out across the ocean. Jenna, awakened by the din that was Garet, soon joined him. "I've been on this stupid boat too long. I need to see some dry land." "Don't we all. But we should only be adrift for another four days. It isn't that long." "It's too long for me." "Don't worry about it." She gave him a hug, and left for the kitchen. Garet stayed a minute and then turned around to see Isaac. "Oh, hey Isaac." "Hey Garet. Why are you up so early?" "I just woke up." "Oh." Just then Ivan exited his cabin and saw them. He walked over. "Hey guys." "Hey Ivan. How's everything?" "Peachy. Why?" "Don't know. Just wondering." The group saw Mia wandering around the deck with her eyes closed. Garet looked at Ivan with a 'what the heck is going on' look. Ivan just said casually, "Sometimes Mia sleepwalks. Nothing too serious, but being cramped up on this ship has caused her mind to want more movement. I'll just go and put her back to bed." He ran over to her and led her to her cot, and laid her down. Next to Mia's bunk, Sheba stirred. "Sleepwalking again?" "Yup. You should lock the door at night to keep her from falling overboard." "Okay. Hey, what time is it?" "I don't exactly know. The sun came up about thirty minutes ago though." "Really? I'm ready to get up now then." "Alright. Breakfast is cooking right now. Should I wake the others?" "Sure. I go with you. But we can let Mia rest for a few more minutes, right?" "Of course. You don't want a hostile Mia. It can be hazardous to your health." They left for the other sleeping compartment to wake Alex and Picard.  
  
Meanwhile, Garet looked at Isaac. "What's with you staying up late? I never know where you go, but it kind of freaks me out. "I'm just going for..." He paused to think. "A swim. I need to start moving around, and it's a good workout." "Hmm. Good idea. But you have all the time to do that during the day. Why not swim then?" Isaac froze. Then an idea came to his mind. "Well, I'm not exactly what you would call 'tan' so I am trying not to scare off anyone." "Good point. Well, just do what I do. Go to the top of the crow's nest and tan there. No one sees you so no one has a problem with it." Caught without an escape, he said the only thing he could. "Okay. I'll take over the lookout post today, if that's alright with you." "Sure. Go ahead." Ivan was walking toward Isaac and Garet. Along with him strode Sheba, Alex and Picard. The six began talking again, and Rachael and Iodem joined them. Felix stuck his head out of the doorway and shouted, "Breakfast is ready." The group began to move toward the kitchen, until Sheba remembered about Mia. "Someone needs to go get her." Picard looked up. "I will." He rushed over, and the others entered the cafeteria. Picard soon returned with Mia and sat her down in her usual seat. Ivan and Garet looked at each other, then at Picard. Garet glanced down and just nodded his head 'no'. Ivan heard Garet thinking, 'Nah. Couldn't be who Felix was talking about with a 'secret relationship.' He seemed to project it through the room because he was thinking so hard. Sheba seemed to notice it too, because she peeked at him. Ivan had to restrain himself to keep from cracking up. He and Sheba knew that Felix had learned about Isaac and Rachael, but luckily, Garet didn't.  
  
After the morning's feast of ham and eggs, Isaac climbed up to Garet's post to retain the illusion that he swam at night. He even braved being seen by others and took his shirt off to tan. The high lookout post was tall enough so that he wouldn't be seen by anyone on the deck, but he noticed Alex laughing hysterically when he saw Isaac. Isaac retorted with an evil stare, and ignored the loud snickering until it stopped.  
  
Garet, now able to walk around more, left to the back of the ship to work out. His routine consisted of push-ups, curl-ups, and running around and jumping from ship to ship. After that, he went into his cabin and returned in only a pair of cotton shorts. He went to the front of the ship and began to swim, but he wasn't nearly as fast as the small fleet. In less that a minute he was struggling to get to the ladder five feet in front of him. "Hey, guys! Do you think you could toss a rope for me?" Jenna peered over the railing. "What are you doing down there, and why aren't you up at your post? And where the heck did Isaac go?" "I'll be happy to explain as soon as you toss me a rope." Jenna entered the storage area and returned a long, good rope. After tying one end to the railing, she grabbed the other end and tossed it into the water. "Catch!" The rope landed a foot from him and he grabbed it. After pulling himself up, he flopped over the railing, breathing hard and obviously tired. "Thanks. I owe you one." "Why were you down there, and where is Isaac?" Garet pointed to where Isaac was, and then said, "It was getting hot, so I went for a swim. Now I know why Isaac swims at night. Nothing to keep up to." "Isaac doesn't sw-" She caught herself in mid sentence. "Oh, yeah. He does, doesn't he?" She left the panting Garet there, and left to her room. Garet returned to his and put his clothes back on.  
  
Ivan exited the kitchen on the Lemurian ship. "We don't have enough water for lunch today. I'm going to need to summon a storm! Everyone put out the buckets and barrels!" Everyone sprang into action, taking everything inside below decks and bringing bucket after bucket to collect water.  
  
After preparations were made, Ivan walked to the bow of the craft. He raised his staff and shouted loudly, "Winds of Jupiter, Waters of Mercury, I summon you forth! Fall at my command!" Rain clouds almost instantaneously appeared, the temperature dropped, and a hard rain began to fall. Ivan turned around. "Well, that was fun."  
  
Isaac commanded Iodem's ship for him. Last storm Iodem came down with a nasty cold, and so Isaac steered through the entire thing. Garet offered to control Felix's craft, and Felix agreed. 'At least I don't have to get wet this time,' he thought.  
  
Alex and Picard traded places guiding the Lemurian vessel, while Ivan cooked and retrieved the water he needed. The storm didn't last long, and they were able to restock their supply of water. The excess water was tossed overboard, and work resumed. Ivan finished cooking the meal, and once again eating commenced.  
  
  
  
Tuesday, April 19th.  
  
Everyone was anxious. It had been six days since they met up with the merchant ship. All were getting sick of the long sea voyage, save Picard. Being an islander, he was always attracted to the ocean.  
  
Lunch was already over, and Isaac saw Picard with his eyes closed steering the ship. "It helps if you can see where you are going." Picard opened his eyes. I can, even with my eyes closed. All Adept ships from Lemuria have a special ability. If you channel Psynergy pulses into the Psynergetic Amplifier with your eyes closed, you can get sort of a sonar effect. The merchant was right. The closest port of land is dead ahead, about another day or so away." "Whoa. You can do that with this thing? That's the trick you were talking about before we first set sail." "Yup. It's hard, though, to keep the ship moving and use the sonar simultaneously. And it can only receive from on source at a time. It's a real mental workout."  
  
  
  
Wednesday, April 20th.  
  
Nobody was able to get any sleep last night. Even Garet, who is so deep a sleeper you could kick his ribs and he wouldn't stir, had trouble resting. Everyone knew how hostile Mia got when she didn't have her sleep, so everyone prayed she at least had some, even if it was just an hour's worth. Every little bit helped. She stepped out into the light. Her hair was messy, and she didn't look happy. Garet braved certain death and walked up to her. "Hey, Mia. We should hit land today." She turned her head and grabbed him by the shirt. "Well, isn't that special?" Her other hand flew up and also grabbed his shirt. She took a few steps toward the side and threw Garet overboard. "Damn. There wasn't any land there." She turned her head toward Felix and said, "What are you looking at!?" He instantly ran toward his bunk and stayed there until Isaac called him and Jenna for breakfast. Garet was already at the table, cowering in fear, still wet because he was too scared to come out of the water until Isaac said it was safe.  
  
Mia seemed much happier after she had breakfast, and Garet already changed into dry clothes. He washed all his dirty laundry, which wasn't much because everyone had only brought two sets of clothes. Oddly, both sets were identical, so no one knew which set was which. After cleaning his, he offered to clean everyone else's too. Isaac, who took Garet's post as lookout man, thought he saw something in the distance. "Hey, Alex! You see that thing all the way over there?" he shouted. Everyone looked up toward where Isaac was pointing. "Yeah. I see it! You thinking what I'm thinking?" "I hope so. Everyone, pack up. We see land!" Everyone free at the moment went to put away all they had, and Mia stashed all the food and herbs they had in her sack. Garet rushed to make sure all his weapons were in their racks, and everyone got their armour and weapons out.  
  
After another hour, they finally pulled into port. The man at the docks spoke the same language as everyone else, and all sighed in relief. "How long you all planning to store these ships here for? I charge ten gold pieces a day." Felix covered Garet's mouth, knowing that he would try to barter and end up getting them an even higher rate. "We don't know yet. When we return, we'll pay you in full. Here's one hundred gold to start." The man happily accepted the money, then wrote something down on his book he was holding.  
  
The next order of business was to buy fresh food and more herbs. They found the item shop, and bought several elixirs as well. Mia had insisted Garet sell his weapons, but he wanted to keep them. "They are part of my collection." She looked at him and said, "Do you want to add your broken teeth to your collection?" They earned over two thousand gold coins for the items, and Garet kept his smile as it was.  
  
"Ah," Felix said as he unpacked his sleeping bag. "No more up and down, up and down. Nice, sturdy land." Night had already fallen, and everyone was tired. Garet, Isaac, Alex, Ivan, and Picard took turns on lookout. They were used to being attacked by small creatures trying to take their food. Garet took first watch, because he never was a morning person. Isaac couldn't sleep at all. He walked over closer to the campfire. "Not tired?" "Not yet. I'm still wide awake." "Well, I'm bored out of my mind." He glimpsed over toward Jenna. "You ever think a guy like her and a girl like me could ever work out together?" Isaac looked at him puzzled. "Err, maybe. Only if you really like trading places." Garet eventually caught his mistake. "You know what I meant." "Still, maybe. I don't know. Just ask her." "Right. Just ask her. What do you know about girls?" A low sound came from a few feet away from the clearing they were in. "Which way did that come from?" "I think it was behind where Felix is." Isaac rushed over to his sleeping bag and grabbed the sword that was next to it. "Couldn't be too big, could it?" The same sound was heard again. "It sounds like a dog, doesn't it Isaac?" "Yup. Maybe it's a Wolf. I always wanted to see what they look like." Right then, a large dog-like animal was thrown from the woods. It had deep scratches on its back and hind legs. A large cat-like beast hopped out from the trees behind it. Isaac sprang into action. "Isaac! What are you doing?!" His shout woke up everyone but Iodem. They looked around and saw the two creatures fighting and Isaac tempting fate by getting closer. The sleepers sprang to their feet with their weapons in hand. Rachael acquired a short sword from Garet before they left the ships, and even some unequipped chain mail. They made a circle around the two fighting monsters and were ready to attack anything that got too close. The ferocious feline jumped at the canine. Isaac ducked and rolled by the dog and, with his sword, impaled the airborne cat. He then turned toward Mia. "You think we can fix this puppy up?" "I guess so, but why? It's wild, and will probably attack us." "Nah. Just give it an herb to heal and we can leave before it is fully recovered." "I guess, but you're taking care of it. And it's just for tonight. Now, what are we going to do with that cat?" Garet thought for a second. "Mmm, beefy." "Eeew. That's nasty. You want to eat it?" Sheba said, obviously disgusted. "Well, we can't let good meat go to waste. And we can smoke it so that it will last longer. We can make kitten jerky." Garet walked over and pulled out his knife from his belt as the others went back to sleep. Isaac carried the injured canine to the fire and bandaged it with herbs. Garet proceeded to skin the cat neatly and remove all the meat he could. The claws were saved so that he could add them to his new weapons collection, and the skin he cleaned and also smoked.  
  
  
  
Thursday, April 21st.  
  
The next morning, the dog was still asleep, the food was finished smoking, and the pelt was completely clean. Garet rolled the skin and claws up with the rest of his belongings, and stored the new meat with the rest of the food. They left, allowing the injured pooch to wake up without human interference.  
  
Isaac was obviously distracted at lunch. The new addition to the food reserves was surprisingly delicious, but Isaac still kept to himself a bit more than usual. Rachael sat down next to him. "Still thinking about that dog thing?" "Yup. I think it was a wolf. I've never seen one before though." "I don't know. I've never seen one either." "Hmm. I just wonder if I'll ever see another one. They're supposed to be very afraid of humans." "Well, you never know. Anyway, at least you have seen it. Some people never even see one."  
  
The group finished lunch and continued their journey. Isaac seemed a little happier knowing that he at least saw it. Suddenly, a loud roar shot out from the forest to the group's left. A Manticore hopped out with its tail poised to strike. "The venom in that tail can paralyze you in less than a minute. Watch out." Mia stated. Abruptly another creature exposed itself behind the first creature. It was in the shadows, so no one was able to identify it without questionable accuracy. The unknown beast moved with inhuman swiftness. It was upon the Manticore in less than a second, and tore its tail off. A shriek ripped through the air, emanating from the hurting Manticore. It spun around to face the attacker, and Picard jumped toward the tailless animal. His scimitar punctured through the tough hide with ease. The sword pierced the Manticore's liver, and Picard forced the weapon through the ribs of his 'steed'. Another cry of pain was the final sound heard for several minutes after that.  
  
The unknown creature walked up to Garet. It snatched the chunk of cat jerky out of his hand. Garet jumped back. "It's that thing again!" After the small meal, the wolf went up to Isaac and licked his hand. "I think you found a new pet!" Jenna said cheerfully. "Is that good or bad?" was the response. Garet looked at it. "Well, if it is going to steal my food, then bad." The group continued walking, still puzzled by how it found them. "What are you going to name it, Isaac?" Sheba inquired. "I don't know. Hmm. What do you think I should call it?" Garet, never taking his eyes off of it, said, "How about Temporary?" Jenna laughed. "Suck it up, Garet. You're just mad because it ate your jerky. Pig." "I'll just call it Fang until I can think of another name for it." "How original." Garet was obviously hostile toward their new four-legged companion.  
  
That night, they set up camp as usual. Isaac's new pet marked its territory with the help of a few trees, and familiarized itself with the other members of the party. Garet tried to stay away from it, although it did end up learning Garet's scent.  
  
After supper, everyone was getting ready for sleep. Picard was taking the first watch, so he stayed up by the fire. Fang was given another herb. When Rachael laid down next to Isaac for bed, Fang started to growl by Isaac's feet. "Shhh." Isaac whispered loudly toward it. The creature quieted down and put its head back between its paws.  
  
  
  
Friday, April 22nd.  
  
Isaac woke up later than normal. He had take his shift, and stayed up a little longer looking at his new friend. "Hey, Mia. When you were in Imil, did you ever see any wolves?" "Yeah. They looked a bit like that, but not as big. And this one looks different." "I know. I think it might be part wolf, part cerberus, part fenrir. They have been known to breed like that." "Maybe. But then it would be much more ferocious, wouldn't it?" "Well, what do you call ripping a Manticore's tail off?" "True, true." Isaac left to pack the rest of the camp's equipment. "Hey, Garet. Come here." Garet jogged over. "Yeah, what is it?" "Tonight, don't chop so much firewood. We are in the woods, so it isn't difficult to find it. And it will lighten our load a bit." "Fine. But we need to make sure that we have some dry wood in case it rains." "Agreed. Now, we may need to go hunting every so often, so keep your knife sharp." "Alright. Do I get to trash stuff?" "Yes, you get to trash stuff." "Sweet!"  
  
  
  
Saturday, April 23rd.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Isaac!" Isaac jumped from his sleeping bag. "Huh? Oh, yeah." "Happy Birthday! You're finally eighteen!" "Yeah. I am. Thanks you guys." Rachael hugged him. "Happy Birthday." Isaac smiled. "Well, when do we depart?" "As soon as breakfast is over."  
  
After breakfast, Garet approached Isaac, carrying a small object. "Hey, Isaac. I was thinking, you always get yourself into trouble, and woods hasn't been your good-luck-charm, so I made this." He revealed a small, handheld weapon with a wooden handle. On the end was one of the claws of the cat he had slain to protect Fang. "Thanks, Garet. I'm sure it will be really useful."  
  
  
  
Sunday, April 24th.  
  
Excerpt from the Journal of Picard.  
  
Isaac's new 'pet' has become a really good asset. It can carry some of our luggage, but we don't pack it with much. When we cross paths with an animal recently there, it automatically knows. At night, it is aware of all movements and sounds. And, it is really loyal to us. We are lucky we found it when we did. The Manticore we ran into could have given one of us a nasty sting.  
  
  
  
Tuesday, April 26th.  
  
The nightfall came sooner than expected. The group had begun the ascent of a large mountain. A small cart path that winded up made the trek easier. They were able to find a good-sized cave that seemed to be abandoned. Garet and Alex had scoured the entire inside of the cave, and found nothing to worry them. The fire was lit, and a small torch was made with a long stick and a piece of old torn cloth. Picard kept pacing back and forth with his scimitar in one hand and the torch in the other. "Wha-?" Mia sat up. "Oh. Hey Mia. What's wrong?" "Nothing. Bad dream." "Oh. Well, you should get some sleep. It will probably get a lot steeper as we get higher up the mountain." "Yeah. I guess so. Hey, can I ask you something." "Okay. What's your query?" "How do you get by with so little sleep? I mean, I just have to have sleep or I become, um, unhappy." "Well, I'm just used to it by now." "Oh." She got up and walked over to him. "Why were you sent to light the lighthouses? Felix never told us why he needed to." "Well, once the lighthouse of a certain element has been lit, it releases that element upon the earth. Leaving a lighthouse unlit while the others are will mess up the balance of the elements. Without balance, a certain element could dominate the others." "I see. So, in order to keep the balance, you have to light all of the lighthouses. That seems logical." "That's what the elders teach on Lemuria." "Oh. Well, I'm going back to sleep." "Okay. It's time for Garet's watch, so I am too." He walked over to Garet and shook him. "Hey, wake up." Garet stirred. "Huh? Aww, man. And I was just about to finish off Saturos all by myself." "Sorry, but back in reality, you need to go on watch." He left Garet and curled into his sleeping bag.  
  
  
  
Friday, April 29th.  
  
They group had already started the descent down the other side of the mountain. The cool mountain seemed to invigorate everyone, and the downhill slope sped up the journey. A loud screech came from above. The crowd looked up in time to see a wild Gryphon waging war on several small Carrion Birds. The Carrion Birds seemed to e winning, beating the Gryphon to the ground. The group rushed to the landing site several hundred meters behind them.  
  
Once there, they saw a flock of Carrion Vultures getting ready to feast on the Gryphon. Ivan rushed over to the unconscious bird and examined it. "Hey, Mia! Rachael! Come here real quick!" The two approached cautiously. "What is it?" "You think this Gryphon can be helped?" "Maybe. But its wing is definitely broken. It won't be able to fly for a while. And a grounded Gryphon is pretty much a dead Gryphon." "Fine. But we can help it a bit, right?" "It's possible. Here. Put this on its cuts. We can bandage the wing, but not much more can be done." "Okay." They put did what they could, and they tried to carry it back to the others. Garet piped up. "What are we, the vet?" Fang began to growl, until Isaac went over and helped to carry the creature. "Great. Another mouth to feed. Now we have two wild animals that eat nothing but meat following us." "Stop complaining, Garet." Jenna retorted. The group didn't go very much farther that day. The excess 'luggage' kept them from moving fast. They set up camp as usual, and ate. After dinner, they slept.  
  
  
  
Saturday, April 30th.  
  
The team woke up as usual, except for the fact that they were one more unit heavy. The Gryphon had awakened, but completely unable to fly. It cawed and cawed as it flapped its wings trying to become airborne. Ivan and Sheba was able to calm it down by mind reading it and finding out the problem. They approached it slowly, and it quieted down. Ivan turned toward Sheba. "You think we should make it think like we are friends and it has known us for a while?" "Sure. And we will need to make Fang like it too." "Agreed. I'll work on this, while you go work on Fang." The two looked at the animals and the creatures calmed down greatly. They didn't even notice each other anymore. Gryphon followed Ivan and Sheba around much more. The Gryphon was male, and an outcast from another flock. While Isaac and friends were Fang's pack, they were also the bird's new flock. Garet looked obviously annoyed. "Now we are the traveling circus. Why do we have to keep these things?" "Because it is the right thing to do." Ivan replied. "Right. Now we have to save everything we see?" "Not exactly. Just do what we can." "Ah. Of course." 


	3. May

Sunday, May 1st.  
  
Sheba looked next to her at Ivan. "What do you plan on calling the Gryphon? He seems to really like you, and you saved it, so what do you want to call it?" "Well, I'm not sure. Hmm." He thought for several minutes. "The only thing that I can thing of is Feather, but that doesn't seem to fit. What do you think?" "I like Feather. It works fine." "Alright. Feather it is."  
  
Lunch came upon them. Feather, walking fine but still unable to even open his wings without a great deal of pain, stayed near Ivan for yet another day. Ivan fed him strips of meat. Garet walked up to Ivan and sat down. Feather kept both eyes on Garet, suspicious of his every move. "So, what did you name it?" Garet asked. "Well, it isn't permanent, but Feather." "Feather? Why not something good, like Poly?" "Because Poly is overused and overrated." They laughed. "Well, maybe you can ride it when its wing is better." "Maybe. But I'm more focused on the Adept Battles. I hope there will be a lot of strong fighters." "Yeah. Me too. Hey, we may even win some money."  
  
Monday, May 2nd.  
  
The group woke up earlier than usual. They waited until the normal time to wake up, and they sprung. "Hey Felix! You're nineteen today!" Felix popped up. "What's going on? Oh, yeah. My birthday." Jenna gave him a hug. "Yup. You're nineteen." Picard presented his sword. "I found a way to imbue the power of Earth in your sword. It was pretty hard to do, because I'm not a Venus Adept, but it's possible. Your strength will be increased with this." Felix looked up. "Thanks. Now we can have lots of fun."  
  
  
  
Tuesday, May 3rd.  
  
The group was getting anxious for a battle. They hadn't seen much action since the Manticore, so they wanted some new excitement. The Adept Tournament was coming fast, and they were a day away from their destination. A small pack of wild rats hopped out of the woods across their path. Startled, the party stopped. "What the heck was that about?" Garet asked. "I don't know. They seemed, afraid." Iodem responded. "Afraid? Of what?" Felix posed. Isaac looked around. A pack of wild pureblood fenrirs leapt out of the trees after the rats. They stopped in the path where the rats were, and sniffed around. The Alpha-dog turned toward the group. "Uh, guys. I think we have a problem." Ivan stated. "Nah, you think?" Garet retorted sarcastically. "Um, if we can help it, only injure them if they start to attack." A large fenrir began to charge, and several followed it. They leapt into the air and were about to come down on the group when Isaac raised his Earth Shield. A large wall of trees and dirt shot up from the ground. The fenrirs slammed into the wall head on, knocking them all out. With five of the twelve fenrirs unconscious, the other seven encircled the Adepts. Fang, who became enraged when the first five fenrirs attacked, went into a battle frenzy. Ivan picked up his Rod of Hesperia, and Garet dropped his axe and retrieved a war-hammer. Isaac readied his Earth Shield, and Picard grabbed his Ice Shield.  
  
Another fenrir jumped at them, and bit Fang in the leg. Fang struck back, throwing himself into the side of the creature and throwing it into the wall of trees Isaac had summoned. Yet another one attacked Garet, and his war-hammer smashed into the fiend's hind legs. It spun in the air and landed with a thud. One of the wild canines had clawed its way up the side of the mountain to a small ledge. It jumped down into the path of Picard, then instantly jumped toward him. Picard raised his Ice Shield and threw the fenrir off of him. The Ice Shield had frozen the fenrir when contact was made.  
  
Four other fenrirs were poised to strike at the Ladies of the group. Ivan slipped behind the fenrirs, and yelled out, "Shine Plasma!" The bolts that fell sent enough electricity the animals to temporarily paralyze them, but not cause any permanent damage.  
  
After the final fenrirs collapsed to the ground, the group fled the scene. The animals would recover in a day or two, any the party Adepts had a tournament to fight in.  
  
  
  
Wednesday, May 4th.  
  
After only a few hours before lunch, the party arrived at the town. There were Adepts everywhere. Most were Mars Adepts, but someone from each element could be found easily. The group walked over to the large inn first. "We'd like to reserve five rooms, please." Jenna said to the innkeeper. "Uum, will those animals be staying with you?" "Yes. But we will take full responsibility for them. Is that acceptable?" "Certainly. Would you like the rooms to be right next to each other? "Yes, if possible." "Okay. You will have rooms twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty- seven, and twenty-eight. That will be two hundred coins." Jenna handed the innkeeper the money. "Thank you. Do you know where the sign-ups are for the Adept Tournament?" "Yes, I do. They're at the entrance to the arena." Jenna thanked the lady, and they all went to the arena.  
  
"Next!" The group walked up to the counter. "We'd like to sign up for the tournament." Mia told the man. "Okay. What are you signing up for?" "What do you mean?" "We have three different categories. Combat skills, Psynergetic competition, and team all around." The group looked at each other. "For the combat, are we allowed to use Psynergy as well as weapons?" "Yup. But mostly offensive Psynergy and combat." "Alright. For Combat, we would like to sign up Alex, Garet, Felix, Picard, and Isaac. For the Psynergy battles, we would like to sign up Sheba, Ivan, Mia, and Jenna. All nine of us will be in the party battles." "Okay. There is a maximum of twelve people per party, and all djinni are allowed in all battles." "Perfect! When does it start?" "Tomorrow at noon." "Good." The group left, and on the way out, Garet saw a sign. ~Adept Tournament~ ~Three Categories~ ~Grand Prize For All Categories, One Million Gold~  
  
Garet called the others over. "One million gold! That can buy a lot!" "Yeah, but we have to win it." Felix told him. "Well, I don't know about you all, but I'm going to go start training." Picard and Alex agreed that that would be a good idea. Mia joined them, hoping that she could increase her magic attack and help the boys boost their magic defense.  
  
The others wished them luck and agreed to meet them back at the inn. In the streets, people rushed to get out of the way of the group because of the animals they had with them. They were passing through the rest of the town when they heard a voice. "Djinni! Djinni for sale! Djinni!" Sheba and Jenna looked up. "They are selling djinni? I want some!" They ran toward the voice with the others in pursuit. When they arrived, they looked at the tall merchant. "How much are they?" Jenna asked him. "One hundred gold each." Isaac caught up with them. "How much gold do we have?" Sheba asked him. "About three hundred thousand. We've been saving a lot, and the weapons Garet found helped." "Let's buy them all!" "What?! All of the djinni?" "Yes. They will help us out a lot in the tournament." "True. And I'm sure we could use some djinn to boost our attack power. Fine." Isaac forked over the money, and the group carried the little djinn to their room at the inn. Ivan ran to find the others, and soon returned. As Mia walked into the room, she saw all of the new additions. "Djinn! There must be, at least thirty!" "Actually," Jenna began, "There are twenty-seven. We each get three new djinn." "Yay! I love djinn. They're so cute!" Garet was behind her. "What kind did you get?" "All sorts. We have plenty. Six Mars Djinn, six Venus, six Jupiter, and nine Mercury. We made sure to get the right kind for each of us."  
  
"Dinner!" shouted the innkeeper. The djinn were set to each of the fighters, and they rushed down the stairs. "Something smells delicious!" Garet thought. "You're telling me, Garet!" Ivan said. "You read my mind? But I couldn't feel it!" "Must be the new djinn. Once you get used to yours, you'll be able to feel a mind read. I'm not fully used to it myself, so it was hard not to read your mind."  
  
The group finished dinner, and Isaac and Rachael offered to help clean up. The innkeeper was glad for the assistance, and she even had time to relax after the dishes were finished.  
  
Isaac and Rachael had returned to the commons area in the inn. So, Ivan," Garet started, "you can easily read minds, right? You think we can use it during the tournament?" "Yeah. I never thought of that. It would be possible. We could anticipate the opponents moves with pinpoint accuracy." "Good. And with the new djinn, they might not be able to notice they are being read." The djinn had been put on standby, and they noticed that all of the djinn seemed to be quite social. The unexpected part was that they were exclusively sociable to djinn of their own element. "Well," Isaac said, "I guess we know how we will be bunking. The djinn decided for us." Mia slept in the bed while Alex and Picard had the floor. Garet also took the floor in his room, giving up the cot to Jenna. Isaac and Rachael shared the large bed in their room, while Felix relaxed on the couch. Iodem received his own room because he had a bad snoring problem. Finally, Sheba and Ivan shared a large bed.  
  
  
  
Thursday, May 5th.  
  
Isaac walked into the arena leading his friends. Iodem and Rachael were allowed on the sidelines of the battle, and they received seats close to the town mayor's box. They were elevated to give them the best possible view. The mayor stood up. "Today, we hold the Adept Tournament. The best Adepts have gathered here from all over the world. Even one from the remote and solitary island of Lemuria joins us. We expect an amazing set of battles. Enjoy!" The crowd cheered loudly, and the first battle began. The combat competition was first. The first battle lasted several minutes, and the Fire Adept defeated an Earth Adept. Picard stood up, ready for his first battle. The winner's bracket was posted up, and everyone could see that Picard was fighting a Jupiter Adept. He had his Ice Shield on his back and scimitar in its sheath.  
  
"Our next battle is between hometown favourite and semifinalist from last year Ryu, and the newcomer and Lemuria native Picard!" The crowd cheered wildly. Picard walked out onto the sandy, beaten arena ground. He faced his first challenge, and unsheathed his scimitar. "Begin!" the mayor shouted. Picard grasped the sword and charged. The Earth Adept charged as well. The two clashed in the middle of the arena. Every time a sword was swung another one was there to block it. Picard sent out a stream of water from the ground. Ryu responded with a spire whipped through the air. Both attacks were dodged, and the swordfighting continued. After a solid two minutes of fighting, both men backed off for a second to rest. Picard readied his shield, and charged again. The two swords clashed again, and Picard smacked his shield into Ryu's back. He was instantly frozen, and Picard kicked the body as hard as he could. It landed outside the designated area, and Ryu was disqualified. The crowd went wild. "And a huge upset by newcomer Picard!" the mayor yelled.  
  
Picard returned to where the others were. The medics passed him carrying Ryu, and Picard told them, "He'll thaw out in a day or so. Don't worry." The medics nodded and sped off. "Good fight." Garet commended. "Thanks. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be."  
  
A few more battles had passed, and finally it was Garet's turn to fight. "We have, from the quiet town of Vale, Garet, against another foreigner, Vlad!" More cheers were heard. Garet readied his war-hammer and ran into the arena. He raised his hammer, and the crowed applauded. His attention focused on Vlad. Vlad was a Jupiter Adept, and Garet expected him to be quick. The mayor shouted, "Begin!" and the match started. Vlad nimbly dodged several of Garet's swings. Both of them knew that, although Garet would have a hard time hitting Vlad, if he did, the match would be pretty much over. They also realized that although Vlad was able to attack Garet with his mace, Vlad wasn't strong enough to deal much damage. As Vlad attempted another strike, Garet released one hand from his hammer and punched Vlad in the face, stunning him long enough to hit him hard in the thigh with the hammer, dislocating it and ending the match. Vlad limped off for medical treatment, while Garet strolled back to his posse. "Nice hit in the face." Isaac said. "Well, I had to slow him down somehow." The group laughed.  
  
"Next, we have Felix, from Vale, and Sheen, from Kaylay!" Ivan looked up. "Kaylay? Hmm." Felix had already unsheathed his sword and casually walked out. Sheen was waiting for him. He seemed somewhat annoyed that Felix was taking his time. "Begin!" Sheen leapt and started charging. Felix readied himself, but Sheen changed course at the last second. He ran to Felix's left and charged again from there. Felix moved and tripped Sheen with the sheath of his sword. Sheen fell face-first into the soft dirt, but quickly jumped back up. Felix charged and drove his shoulder into the center of Sheen's chest, throwing Sheen back almost out of bounds. Felix charged again, but Sheen dodged his attack. A swordfight began. Finally, Sheen kicked Felix in the stomach and threw him across the sideline. Felix landed on his feet, but not in bounds. The match ended, and Felix went back to the party, obviously angry. "I could have beaten that guy! This is a bunch of crap!" "Calm down. I'll beat him in the next round for you." Garet said. "You better. Dislocate his thigh like you did to the other guy." Felix then left and sat down next to Iodem in the stands.  
  
"Our next battle is between two Mercury Adepts! Alex, from the northern town of Imil, versus Harnak!" Alex wanted to give the crowd a show, so he summoned a wall of water, which he rode like a surfer. The crowd loved the action, and began to cheer. The normal shout marked when the match began. Harnak emitted a shriek, and began to charge at Alex. Alex, ready for the fight, also charged. When they were about to meet, Alex purposely slid, wiping out Harnak's legs and forcing him to the ground. Alex was up to his feet without a wasted moment, and Harnak was soon up as well. The two encircled each other, until Alex charged. His foot hit Harnak directly in the chest, knocking him back several feet. This only angered Harnak more. Alex was becoming bored with the match, and it was obvious the crowd wanted more. Never one to disappoint, Alex thought of a great way to spice up the battle. Harnak charged toward Alex, and at the exact second Harnak reached him, Alex disappeared. Harnak looked around in disbelief. Then a rock hit him in the back of the head, and the crowd howled with laughter. Harnak spun around in time to be punched in the jaw by a right cross. Alex disappeared and reappeared behind Harnak, kneeing him in his spine as hard as he could. Once again, Alex teleported, and when he rematerialized, he gave Harnak a hard kick to the ribs. Harnak fell unconscious, and the mayor declared Alex the victor. "Well, that was fun." Alex said as he sat down next to Isaac.  
  
After a few more battles, Isaac was up. He had his sword out, and was swinging it in a circular motion. His name was called, and he ran to the arena. His opponent was a Fire Adept named Henry. The match began with a fireball flying at Isaac's head. He dodged it, and another shot at him. He deflected it with his shield and fired a large javelin of rock at Henry. Henry narrowly escaped the attack, and when he turned around, Isaac was upon him. They fought for several minutes, with the occasional Psynergetic attack here and there. Both men were getting tired, and they backed off for a momentary rest. Henry charged suddenly. Isaac raised his arms, and a wall of dirt and mud sprang from the ground. Henry's legs were caught by the wall, and he was flipped over his head and landed on his back. His sword lay a few meters away, and Isaac walked up to him. He put his foot on his chest and looked up to the mayor's box. The shout that told when the watch was over sounded. Isaac walked off, pleased with himself on a good match.  
  
  
  
Friday, May 6th.  
  
The battles resumed at noon again. "Now, for the next round!" the familiar voiced announced. "Our first match involves Garet, the hammer wielding Mars Adept, against Sheen, the swift Jupiter Adept!" The two stepped out, and the duel began. Garet knew Sheen's capabilities, so he had brought a shield in case it would be needed. The first thing Garet did was hurl his hammer right at Sheen. It was easily dodged, but in the moment of distraction, Garet had gotten enough momentum and hit Sheen with all his might on the shoulder with the shield. Sheen was thrown several meters away, and Garet retrieved his hammer. Sheen, infuriated by the strike, turned at Garet and charged. Garet swung and threw his hammer, striking Sheen in the chest and nearly knocking him unconscious. He quickly followed through with an uppercut that finished the job. Felix cheered especially hard.  
  
"For our next bought, we have Isaac against Picard!" The two looked at each other. "Promise me you won't hold anything back, okay Isaac?" "Fine. But I don't intend to lose." The two walked to the battlefield next to each other at took the normal positions. The match began, and the two began to swordfight with inhuman ferocity. The slash of metal could be heard over the din of the crowd. "I guess Fang has taught you a thing or two about fighting. But guess what Alex taught me." Picard disappeared, only to reappear behind Isaac. Isaac's elbow swung back and hit Picard in the forehead. "Oow!" Isaac spun around to face Picard. "Shouldn't have teleported, Picard." Isaac raised his arms and cracks appeared in the ground. A chunk of land around Picard popped out of the ground, and Isaac jumped onto it. The swordfight recommenced, and the battle heated. Picard summoned a wall of water, which encased the floating earthen platform. Isaac welcomed the water, cooling him down but damaging him some. Both fighters leapt off the rock, and Isaac let it fall to the ground. Picard charged at Isaac, but Isaac swiftly unleashed Ground, forcing Picard's feet to the ground. Isaac then disarmed Picard and tackled him to the dirt. Finally seizing the chance, Isaac hurled the Lemurian out of the boundaries, and winning the match. He retrieved Picard's scimitar, then walked to Picard. He helped him up, and they walked off to the rest of the party, tired and soaked. "Good job." They both said.  
  
"Now, for the next match! We have Alex, the teleporting Mercury Adept, verses Cain, the fire fanatic Mars Adept! Begin!" The two charged at each other. Knowing Alex could teleport, Cain let out a ring of fire. It scorched everything on ground level, and left a permanent burn mark on the stadium's walls. Alex leapt over the wall of fire and shot several ice shards toward Cain. He dodged all but one, which sliced into his left arm, rendering it useless. Cain responded with a barrage of fireballs, of which three hit Alex. Alex merely used Ply, and he was good to go. He kicked Cain in the chest, then in the leg. Cain's leg snapped and broke. Alex grabbed him and spun around in a circle. He released him, and the crippled man smashed into the wall. Alex was declared the winner.  
  
After the final battle the party was involved in, the group left to go rest. The fighters relaxed as the 'pets' slept. "Hey, Ivan. How is Feather's wing doing? It looks a lot better than it did a few says ago." "It's doing great. I think it will be able to fly soon." Sheba looked excited. "Do you think it will be possible to ride him?" "Probably. They are really strong animals." Rain started to fall, and a loud thunderclap snapped through the air from the stadium, startling everyone in the room. "Hmm. Must be getting wild, eh?" Garet said. He got up and looked out the window. "Hey, you think this would help if we trained in the rain?" "Couldn't hurt." "Alright! I'll see you guys later, unless anyone wants to come with me." Isaac, Alex, Picard, and Felix jumped at the opportunity. Felix especially wanted to spar with Garet, because of the Sheen incident. He wanted to see if he could beat Garet. The five left, any the others stayed. The large clock in the town square showed that it was already four o'clock. Ivan went to his room to write in his journal and relieve his djinn temporarily. Sheba joined him and sat down. "Ivan. I've been thinking. What will happen if we have to battle each other in the tournament?" Ivan looked at her. "I'm not sure. We've both been training really hard, and we have gotten a lot stronger. I hope it doesn't come to that." "Me neither. But hypothetically, what would you do?" "Well, I'm not sure. I would probably have to consider the options." "Like what?" "Well, there is forfeit. Also, I could let you win. Then there is fight hard and lose, or fight hard and win." "Hmm. I hope it doesn't come to that either." They returned to the sitting area where Mia, Jenna, Iodem, and Rachael were. Iodem was bored, and had begun playing solitaire.  
  
An hour had passed. The rain had subsided over thirty minutes before, and the boys had returned. Isaac went to bathe while the others had plopped down on the couch. When Isaac returned, Garet left to wash up as well. Isaac sat down next to Rachael. "You smell better than before." "Gee, thanks. I'm glad you noticed." They had begun talking again, and the cycle continued until every one of the fighters were clean. The innkeeper walked into the room. "Dinner is ready for those who wish to eat." Everyone got up and sat down at the large dining room table. They feasted on a delicious honey ham. Ivan volunteered to clean up after the meal, since the innkeeper had done so much work preparing it. Sheba assisted, and the innkeeper thanked them. She left the room and returned to the front desk. She sat down and rested, until a man walked into the inn. "I'm looking for an elderly man named Iodem. Do you now where he might be right now?" The lady pointed toward the group, and he walked over. "Iodem. I am new to the Army of Tolbi. I have bad news." Iodem stood up. "Bad news? Like what?" A small band of nomadic warriors has attacked Tolbi, and many of our soldiers were injured. The current general isn't strong, and we need a good leader. I was sent to find you, and I saw Lord Babi's old ship at the port town. I asked around, and was redirected here. You must come back to Tolbi. We need you." "Fine. How long will it take to get back to Tolbi?" "About a month. We must leave as soon as possible." "Agreed." He turned toward the Adepts. "I was planning to return to Tolbi anyway. Good luck with the rest of the tournament. If you get back to the docks and my ship is still there, then it is yours." "Thank you for everything, Iodem. Have a safe journey." Felix said. "Rachael, you may stay or you may leave with me. The choice is yours." Rachael looked into Isaac's eyes. "I'll stay. I think I will be able to help them with healing, and I might learn a Psynergy or two from Mia, if possible." "Okay. I bid you all adieu. You will always be welcomed in Tolbi." With that Iodem left for his room, gathered his possessions, and handed Isaac the room key. Isaac stopped him on his way out. "Iodem, you've done a lot for us. In case you get into any trouble, take this." He handed over a finely crafted short sword he had in his backpack. "Thanks, Isaac. Be good to my niece. If you aren't I'll have to come back and hunt you down." The two laughed, and Iodem left. Isaac sat back down next to Rachael. "Well, now what?" Garet looked up from the paper he was writing on. "We need a good formation for the team battle. I have an okay one, but it is hard to stay in. Also, it is open to Area of Effect attacks. He presented a formation in which he, Isaac, Felix, Picard, and Alex were in the front. Mia, Sheba, Jenna, and Ivan were right behind them. "That looks good, but what happens if they are able to get behind us." Mia asked. "Uum, I haven't gotten that far." "Well, we still have plenty of time before the team tournament begins." Isaac piped in. The sun had gone down, and Isaac walked over to the innkeeper as she was closing up. "Hi, we will not be using room twenty-eight. Here you go." He handed her the room key and left to the upstairs. He had gotten into his sleeping attire, and was ready to go to sleep. He wasn't able to fall asleep as fast because of Iodem being gone. The lack of snoring seemed to have changed the normal cycle. Rachael rolled over and looked at him. "Still wondering about Iodem?" "Yeah. Hey, how come you didn't tell me he was your uncle?" "Well, I didn't want you to get nervous about 'us'. I mean, he does seem like a scary person." "I wouldn't have. I think he has gotten used to me by now." "Yeah. Your right." She kissed him, and then closed her eyes to go to sleep. He did the same.  
  
Saturday, May 7th.  
  
The battles resumed at normal time. Garet was first up. He was fighting a Water Adept. "Begin!" The Mercury Adept sat back, waiting for Garet to make the first move. He concentrated, and sent a small orb of fire toward the Adept. Without warning, a shower of ice and water flew from the opponent. Garet was hit hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As Garet struggles to regain his breath, his attacker charged up and hit him across the head with his shield. Garet fell to the ground, unconscious. The medics rushed Garet off the field, but Jenna stopped them. "He'll be fine. His head is a rock." The medics left Garet with her. Another battle had began by the time Garet awoke. He saw Jenna and Mia around him. "Did I die? Because I'm seeing angels." The two girls blushed. "Aww. That's so sweet." Isaac peeked out from the other side. Garet turned his head. "Noo! Isaac! I've fallen in the direction!" The party laughed, and Garet sat up. "I lost, didn't I?" Jenna paused. "Yeah, but you put up a good fight." "I'll go sit with the others." He got up and went to the showers.  
  
Garet joined Felix, Rachael, Feather, and Fang just in time to watch the start of Isaac's match. The two fighters glanced at each other, ready to battle. "Ox, versus Isaac. Begin!" Isaac sprang from his position and swung at the Mars Adept. Ox barely dodged the attack, but was able to grasp Isaac's leg. He slammed Isaac's face into the ground. Isaac shook it off, and whipping his bloody nose, stood up. He leapt again, but this time unleashed Bane. Ox flew back, and realized he had been poisoned. "I'll finish you quickly, kid!" He charged, but the poison was too much. He didn't get to a very fast speed, and Isaac kicked him in the head. Ox fell backwards, knocked out from the blow.  
  
"For our next match, we have Kristy versus Alex. BEGIN!" Kristy, the only female in the combat competition, was a strong fighter. She charged at Alex, and he began evasive tactics. She went harder, and nicked Alex's arm. 'She is serious.' he thought. He waited for her to swing again, and kicked her stomach. He jumped behind her and, with everything he could muster, hit her with a freezing blast. She fell to the ground, frozen solid. "And the winner is, Alex!" He left the arena and rejoined the rest of the party. He quickly showered, and they all left the arena. They were walking along when they saw the merchant that sold them the djinn. Sheba and Jenna rushed up to him. "Hey, I don't think you could tell me if you have any more djinn, or where you got them, could you?" "Well, I cannot reveal my source, but I do have one new djinn. It is a Mars Djinn, and I found it abandoned in the woods." "Abandoned? Why?" "Well, the last owner it had was obviously not very smart. He overused it, and it became worn out. It still has its ability, which is decreases your opponent's agility. Or at least I think that's what it does." "How much are you selling it for?" "Well, since you all bought all my djinn and allowed me to get everything I need and extra, I'll give it to you for free." "Free? Thank you mister." "Take care of it. It still needs to rest more." Jenna and Sheba rushed off to the rest of the group. "You know the merchant that sold us the djinn? Well, he had an older, beat up one that he gave to me." "Wow. What type is it?" inquired Felix She pulled it out and showed them. "It's a Mars Djinn. It still needs to recover from the previous owner. The merchant found it abandoned, and he gave it to me." "That was nice of him." Garet said. The djinn was obviously tired, and it kept sleeping and resting.  
  
The group had already finished dinner by the time they were able to finally take off their set djinn. The group all relaxed in Jenna and Garet's room. The djinn were as social as normal, except for the new one. It seemed to stay away from others. "It's probably afraid of everyone. I don't blame it." Jenna said. Garet scooped up all of the other Mars djinn, and placed them by the newcomer. They all sniffed around and tried to be friendly with it. The new djinn seemed to understand, but still stayed away. "Hmm." Isaac said. "Maybe it needs to see all other types of djinn." The group picked up all of the djinn and put them on the bed. The djinn looked at the Mars Djinn, but nothing really big happened. Finally, the new djinn went into the center of the group. It let out a high-pitched yelp, and all of the other djinn assembled into four columns, a column of each type. Garet looked in awe. "It teaches Command?! That's amazing!" The rest of the party looked at Garet, puzzled. "Command?" Felix asked. "Yeah. Command. When this djinn is set, the Adept with it learns Command. It is a passive ability. It raises the stats of everyone in the party, as well as compliments the djinn those people have set. All of the summons are much more powerful as well." "Wow. And we got it for free?" "Yup. It has to be around all of the elements to be activated. The elemental djinn activated the ability." "How do you know so much about Command?" "Kraden taught me about it before he returned to Vale." "Oh. Well, it is still too afraid of people to try to use it, so maybe we should just let it rest."  
  
Sunday, May 8th.  
  
When Garet awoke the following morning, Jenna was already awake. He walked up and saw that she was trying to play with the djinn. To make it easier, she took off all of her other djinn. Garet, realizing what she was doing, sat down next to her. The sword in his belt caught the attention of the new djinn. It propped up and the other djinn stopped what they were doing. It rushed to Garet and stopped. It concentrated, and then jumped. It forcefully set itself to Garet. "What the heck?" Jenna said. "The djinn likes me." "Yeah. Why?" she said sarcastically. "I'm a fighter. Command usually is used by fighters, because of the boost in attack strength." "Oh, man. And I wanted the djinn." "I'll make it up to you. You can choose any of my djinn to have." "Well, they are all so adorable. Hmm. Which one has the best increase of Psynergy Points?" Garet picked up one of the ones near the outside of the line. "This one." "Okay. But I'm going to keep an eye on you. You better be nice to that djinn." Felix busted into the room. "We need to hurry. The match is going to start in less than four hours, and you need to eat." "Fine. But don't think I won't take my time. I'm not fighting today anyway." The three went downstairs after recollecting the djinn. "The new djinn set itself to me. It is fully recovered." "Good. But try to keep it from doing anything strenuous. We don't want it to get hurt again."  
  
The group left the inn after lunch. They had figured out that the next match was Isaac's. "Our first battle of the day is between two opposing elements. Gregory, the Jupiter Adept, versus Isaac, the Venus Adept. BEGIN!" The battle began as usual, with swordfighting and the occasional elemental attack. Suddenly, Isaac's Gaia Blade began to shake violently. It vibrated to the point that a humming noise could be heard. A howl was let out, and a massive sword attack fell straight from the sky. The unsuspecting Wind Adept was crushed with a direct hit, knocking him out instantly. When the dust settled from the stir, only Isaac was standing. The crowd was silent for a minute, and then burst into applause. Isaac left the field. "Today must be your lucky day, Isaac." Alex said. "I guess so," Isaac agreed.  
  
Two battles were fought before Alex's turn, giving Isaac time to shower. He emerged, hair still wet, and sat down with the rest of the group in the spectators' seats. The next battle was Alex's. "Begin!" Alex was fighting a Mars Adept named Darien. Darien unleashed a fireball, but it was obviously going to miss. It suddenly exploded right next to Alex. Alex became encased in a bubble of fire, which burned up all of his Psynergy. Alex was unable to use any Psynergy. He, angered that he had no more Psynergy Points, began a furious assault. Nearly severing several of Darien's body parts, the attack grew even more heated. Still able to use Psynergy, Darien evaded the attack, waiting for Alex to tire out. He began to show fatigue, and the offensive started to slow down. Two fireballs were fired at him, knocking him to the very edge of the arena. A punch to the chest threw him out of bounds, giving Darien the win. Alex, infuriated about the loss, stormed off to the shower room. He emerged several minutes later, obviously still angry. "I couldn't even use my weakest Psynergy!" Felix looked up. "Yeah, you know you could have kicked the crap out of that guy easily. I know the feeling." "Isaac, you'd better beat the hell out of him if you fight him." "Alright. I'll try." The pack left. The time was barely three. "Well, what do you all want to do?" "Let's go to the woods. There is a really good training ground over there." Garet offered. "Sounds like fun."  
  
After a few hours of training, the group returned. They bathed, and when everyone finished, ate supper. After dinner, they were preparing for sleep. Isaac looked at Rachael. "You want to try to learn how to use Psynergy, right?" "Yeah. But isn't really hard?" "Yeah, but there is a better chance for you to be able to learn some because you used to live at a sanctum. Especially the Tolbi sanctum, where all of the Colosso fighters visited." "And how does that help me learn Psynergy?" Isaac drew his sword and carefully cut his arm. "Are you crazy?!" "Okay, I want you to put your hands over the cut. Close your eyes, and concentrate. Visualize in your head the cut healing." She did as he said. "Okay, open your eyes." Her eyes opened, and she looked at the wound. It was bleeding about half as much as it was before. She closed her eyes and repeated the process. "Wow! It healed!" she said, astonished. "Yup. That is Cure. It will take a while to build up to more advanced levels of Cure, as well as Ply, and Wish." "Really? That's Cure? I thought it would be a lot harder." "Most people do. But the fact that you worked in a sanctum helped, because you already are used to visualizing the healing process." "I'm drained from that." "That's normal. You only have about six Psynergy Points. Cure uses three each time you use it. You should rest." He gave her another blanket, and laid down himself.  
  
  
  
Monday, May 9th.  
  
The battles began earlier, starting at eleven. This was because two rounds would be fought. The first round was a mere two battles. The first one involved Darien and a Wind Adept. The other involved Isaac and some Mercury Adept. Isaac's battle was starting.  
  
"Begin!" The two fighters stood still for a few seconds, waiting for the other to make a move. Isaac put both hands on his Earth Shield, and began to concentrate. A sphere surrounded him, and his shield began to glow. The crowd paused. A beam in the shape of a lion shot out from the gem in the center of his shield. The Mercury Adept barely dodged the attack, but Isaac stood still. The lion took a more defined shape, and began to leap off the walls and toward the fleeing Water Adept. Too worried about the lion, he forgot about the rest of his problem: Isaac. His foot landed in the stomach of the running man, and Isaac retreated to his original starting point. The lion beam caught up with the hurting Mercury Adept, and launched him through the gate that marked the entrance to the battlefield. The Adept didn't move. "Isaac is the victor!" Isaac left the area and sat down in the private bathing room. He relaxed for twenty minutes, and had some Herme's Water to drink to help regain his strength.  
  
"Now, for our final match of the category! Venus Adept Isaac, the newcomer from Vale, fighting Mars Adept Darien, from Bilibin! Let the battle begin!" The two stared at each other, motionless. Isaac raised his hand, and a large mass of trees shot up out of the ground around Darien. Another pause passed, until everyone smelled the scent of smoke. The trees had been consumed by a fire, and Darien jumped out at Isaac. Swords clashed into each other, filling the air with the all-too familiar ringing sound. Fireballs scorched the ground as the earth raised in attack. Isaac raised both arms, and yelled "Ragnarok!" The earthsword fell to the earth at blinding speeds. It crashed into the unsuspecting Darien, cutting his flesh in several places. In retaliation, a column of fire burst from the ground, raising outside temperatures to sweltering levels. The fire subsided, and Isaac emerged, black with soot and ash for not seriously injured. He charged, and halfway to Darien, slowed down, and yelled out, "Ground!" Darien looked at the dirt expecting an attack, but instead looked up in time to see four lights descend upon him. His legs became unable to move. Isaac walked up and began a massive physical assault, punching and kicking Darien until he bled. He backed off, and the ground began to shake. "Grand Gaia!" A beam of light came out of the ground, and filled the stadium. And underground explosion sent chunks of earth into the air, crashing into the stuck Damien. The light subsided, and the dust settled. Isaac was standing where he had been when he had begun the psynergetic assault. Damien was unconscious, easily fifty feet away, lying on his back.  
  
"And the winner is Isaac!" The crowed cheered. Isaac stumbled off to the back room, extremely worn out from the fight. After bathing, he returned to his companions. "Isaac! Good job! You beat the crap out of that guy!" Garet shouted. "Thanks." He turned toward Alex. "Is revenge really sweet?" "You know it!" "So, where to next?" "Well, I am kind of hungry. What do you think about lunch?" "Sounds good." The party returned to the inn in which they were staying. Ivan walked to the kitchen, and began to cook. He made a delicious meal of steak, salad, and other various foods. They feasted, toasting the victory, many good fights, and an increase in funds.  
  
"The djinn seem to be acting weird." Isaac commented. The others looked down. "No, only the Venus Djinn. Hmm." Rachael said. Ivan looked around. "Well, it might be the Venus Djinns' mating season. It lasts for about a week." "Mating season!? But how do you tell which djinn is which gender?" "It's hard. Most people take the djinni to vets. They can tell you there." "Vets? Is there one in this town?" "Don't know. We can try to find one some other day."  
  
After the conversation, Isaac was more worn out than usual. Although the banquet restored some of his energy, he still felt fatigued. He excused himself from the normal gathering early, and retreated to his room. Rachael soon joined him.  
  
With the man of the hour gone, the others talked about the normal things. The sun had set, and the first round of Psynergy Battles was scheduled for tomorrow. Ivan and Sheba decided to get some rest, and Jenna had left for bed some time ago. The five remaining talked for another hour until they all decided to sleep as well.  
  
Wednesday, May 11th.  
  
The first round of battles had gone without a problem. All of the party had passed to round two. Ivan's battle, the first of the day, had already passed. Although Ivan was the second youngest in he competition, he was able to hold his own against the others. Mia was preparing to fight.  
  
"From the cold north in Imil, Mia, and from the burning desert Suhulla, Terrance! Let the battle BEGIN!" The Mars Adept started with a barrage of fiery rain from the sky. Mia was able to escape relatively unscathed. She returned with an aerial assault of Ice Missiles, weakening her inexperienced opponent. She quickly finished off the battle a spout of water streaming from the ground, which she quickly froze, encasing her opponent and winning the battle.  
  
"Jeez, Mia. How long will it take him to thaw?" Ivan asked her as she exited the arena. "Hmm. I don't know." "But the-" "For our next match," the voice interrupted, "we have young Sheba, from Lalivero, and Jonas, from Xian. Let these two Jupiter Adepts fight!" The winds picked up as the two began their assaults. A shower of Sparks flashed lightning everywhere, striking Sheba. She fell to her hands and knees, but quickly got back up. She retaliated with a large Cyclone smashing into Jonas. He tumbled back, but regained his ground. Summoning a spherical shield of wind, he charged. Sheba cast Tempest, hurling Jonas several hundred feet into the air. He landed hard on his back, without anything to cushion the impact. Nearly half of his bones snapped and shattered, granting Sheba the win. The medical team rushed the barely conscious man to the hospital. "Wow. Good job!" Ivan said as he hugged her. "Thanks. I thought he would use some wind spell to cushion the fall, but I guess he never thought of it." "Don't worry. He'll be fine anyway."  
  
Several battles passed until Jenna's fight began. "Now," the booming voice yelled, "for the final match of the day! Jenna, from Vale, is fighting Arthur, from Kolima! BEGIN!" A series of bubbles were hurled at Jenna. "Well, aren't we getting started quick," she said. The used her Volcanic Staff to dispose of the pathetic attack. As the final bubbles were dissolving, a large wall of Ice Spires descended upon her. She barely had time to react, and all she could do was make a Fire Barrier. Without hesitation, she went on the offensive. Fire rained from the sky, and an Inferno blazed across the stadium. Her Volcanic Staff whipped through the air, and she broke Arthur's jaw. She stumbled a few steps to the side, and blasted him in the back with a Fireball. He fell to the ground, completely knocked out by the blast. "And the victor is Jenna!"  
  
She returned to the bathing rooms, where the others had already finished up. After she had finished, the team returned to the inn, which they now considered their sanctum. They had a normal dinner, as they were trying to conserve all of the money they could. The participants of the day's events retreated to their rooms early, tired from their battles. The others weren't very far behind.  
  
  
  
Thursday, May 12th.  
  
Sheba woke up earlier that she usually did. Ivan was already making breakfast, with the help of Picard. Sheba began her normal routine, bathing first and then going downstairs. Ivan passed her as he walked to the dining room. He kissed her on his way past, and setting the table commenced. Picard looked over. "Well isn't that sweet?" he said sarcastically. "Hush. You're just jealous." Sheba retorted. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" "Because Mia doesn't notice you as much as you notice her." Picard paused. "But how-" "It was obvious. You are always acting weird around her. Well, weirder than usual." "Do you think she-" Mia walked into the room at that moment. Picard closed his mouth and continued his cooking. "Why all the silence?" Mia asked them. "Oh, just nothing to really talk about." Sheba responded. She left the room. "Hey. Something smells good." Mia commented. "Thanks. It's an old recipe I learned from the monastery elders." "But I thought you said you only ate certain foods there." "I did. But that doesn't mean we couldn't make it taste good." They laughed.  
  
The others soon joined them, and they all sat down to eat. Preparing for the fights, the team got in their gear. Ivan brandished his buffed up Rod of Hesperia, which Picard imbued to increase Ivan's wind powers. Feather followed him as the small army walked to the stadium. They arrived, and the non-combatants took their seats in the stands. Sheba was t battle first, taking on a Mercury Adept named Enrique. The battle was beginning.  
  
Sheba began by making a sphere of Psynergy the size of a basketball. She threw it up into the air, and it landed in the center of the arena. "Nice aim, kid" Enrique said sarcastically. Sheba just smiled. The sphere began to spin, faster and faster. Bolts of electricity shot out of it, diverting away from Sheba's location but crashing into everything else. Enrique took heavy damage, and was barely able to stand. He regained his balance, and scanned the arena for Sheba. He finally saw her in a far corner, charging up another sphere. He attacked. A storm of ice and water flew towards Sheba. She threw her sphere at the attack, and in detonated upon impact, forcing the ice and water to return to its sender. Enrique fell to his knees in an attempt to cover his head from the glistening ice. His back was cut badly, and Sheba cast Tornado, finishing the job.  
  
"Now, for our next match, we have Mia, from Imil, fighting Jenna, from Vale!" The mayor shouted. "Aww, crap." Ivan said aloud. "This isn't going to turn out good."  
  
The two ladies walked out onto the field. They readied their weapons, and prepared to fight. Jenna began with a daring attack, flanking Mia from the right and hitting her with a Fiery Explosion. Mia was burned, but a quick Ply fixed that. She retaliated with a Bubble Barrage, cooling down Jenna's fire powers. Jenna paused, and concentrated all her Psynergy into an orb of blazing energy. Novas of flames emitted from Jenna, hurting Mia and draining some of her Psynergy Points. Mia did the same with an Ice Nova, but doing more damage to Jenna instead of draining her Psynergy. The two girls backed off and rested. Then, they both began to recharge the spheres, and raised their arms. A beam of fire leapt out of Jenna's orb, while one of ice from Mia's. The two elements clashed into each other, and both beams stayed at that length. Both women screamed as they added more Psynergy into their attacks, but Jenna's gained ground. It melted all of the ice and slammed into Mia's chest. She flew back and out of the ring.  
  
"And Jenna is the victor!" She rushed over toward Mia, and helped her up. They walked off into the back together. "Hmm. Not as bad as I thought" Ivan said aloud as they passed.  
  
"For our next battle of the day, Ivan will be facing David!" The two boys walked out onto the field, and prepared. David, a Water Adept, brandished an odd looking rod with a bright blue orb on the top. Ivan held his Shaman's Rod. When all was ready, they shout sounded the beginning of the match. David lifted his rod and pointed it directly at Ivan. He shouted, and the orb on top began to glow brightly. The bright filled the arena. Out of the orb shot a massive figure in the shape of a human! It was able to walk around and fight as well and transform into a fierce wall of water. Now Ivan had two foes to worry about. Ivan lifted his rod. Storm clouds began to appear around the arena. A massive downpour began to fall, and lightning struck the ground. After several missed, one bolt struck the creature. The creature split into several small chunks, and soaked into the ground. The rain kept falling, and the spot where the thing fell down began to rise. The creature burst out through the dirt. Ivan quickly hit it with another bolt of electricity, but it seemed to be less effective than the first time. Then Ivan realized something. He turned toward David and attacked. His rod made a nasty red mark as it thwacked David in the head. David returned by swinging his rod at Ivan, but Ivan easily dodged the clumsy attack. The creature charged at Ivan from behind. Ivan jumped out of the way as the creature transformed into a wall of water. The wall smashed into David's chest, both knocking him out and throwing him out of bounds.  
  
"The winner is Ivan!" He left the field and returned to his friends. After his bath, he returned to the inn with the rest of the party. "Feather's wings look a lot better, Ivan" Mia commented. "I know. I've been trying to get it to open them up." "Speaking of animals, we still haven't brought the djinni to the vet place to see what gender they are." Garet said. "You're right. We have about two hours before dinner. Let's go now." The party got up and walked to the door. Ivan looked over his shoulder at the innkeeper. "We're going out real quick. We'll be back in time to make supper." Felix paused. "Hey, wait. I'm getting tired of sleeping on a couch. You think we can re-rent Iodem's room?" Alex looked over. "Sure. That room has two beds in it, right? The floor is killing my neck." Felix got the room key from the lady and caught up with the rest of them. They arrived at the vet after a nice twenty-minute walk. "Hello, there." The receptionist said warmly. "How can I help you?" "Well, we have some djinn, and we're not sure what gender they are. We were wondering if you could help us." "Sure. No one else is here so you can walk right in." They party entered the back room. A female walked into the room behind them. "Let's see those djinn." The djinn were all taken off and put on a table. "Wow! You have a lot!" "We're in the tournament. They have really helped us out." Jenna said. "Oh. Now, these ones are females. This one is male. So is this." She went on until all of the djinn had been categorized. They thanked her, and she began to leave the room. She stopped when she saw Feather and Fang. "Are those your pets? Can I have a look?" "Sure." Isaac and Ivan both said. "Wow. They both have some scarring, but they are in really good shape. I'm impressed." "Thanks. We found the dog in the woods being attacked by some cat thing. The Gryphon was being attacked by a flock of birds. We saved them, and they became attached to us." Jenna revealed. "Wow. Well, the wing on the Gryphon seems to have been broken, but it should be strong enough to fly." "Really?" Sheba asked. "Yup. And now for this dog." "Yeah. We were wondering what it is exactly." "Well, it is hard to say. It is obviously some hybrid between several species. I can see some fenrir in it." "I knew it. Fenrir is in it." "Well, that is all I can do for now. If you need me, you will know where to find me." The party thanked her and left.  
  
When they arrived at the inn, they began to relax. Ivan, Picard, and Jenna had begun cooking dinner. The aroma of the delicious foods filled the air. Both Feather and Fang had already been fed various meats, and had laid down for sleep. After dinner had finished, everyone went to bed. Felix and Alex took up residence in their new room, while the others continued to their normal rooms.  
  
  
  
Friday, May 13th.  
  
Isaac awoke to the familiar smell of eggs and ham being cooked. He looked around. Rachael was still asleep. He got up and retrieved the things he would need for his bath. After bathing, he had dried off and clothed himself. He finally saw Rachael stir in the bed. He walked over to her. She opened her eyes and smiled. He smiled back and whispered, "Happy Birthday. You're eighteen too." "How did you know?" "Iodem told me while we were out on the ocean." "I should have guessed." "Well, it isn't much, but I got you this." He walked around the bed and reached into his bag. He pulled out a soft Feathered Robe. He brought it over and covered her in it. "Thanks. It's beautiful." "Not as beautiful as you are." She blushed. She got out of bed and gave Isaac a kiss. He smiled a goofy smile, and she laughed. "Breakfast is ready for those fortunate enough to get their tails down here before Garet wakes up!" shouted Ivan. "Well, we better go eat before Garet inhales it all." Isaac took her hand and they walked downstairs together. When they reached the dining room, they saw everyone was already there. Garet had his plate covered with food, like usual. "Damn, Garet. Hungry?" Isaac said. "You know it. Hey, can I have your serving too?" "You're such a pig, Garet. I wonder why you don't weigh four hundred pounds." Jenna piped in. "I have a high metabolism." He said matter-of-factly, his mouth full of ham. "And bad manners." Ivan responded. Isaac and Rachael sat down, and began to eat.  
  
Breakfast passed ad everyone suited up for the day's round. On the way, Ivan had an idea. He whispered something to Isaac and Garet. They kept walking, and suddenly sprung. They grabbed Feather and threw him into the air. In his panic, Feather's wings began to flap. He began to stop his fall, and eventually started an ascent. It flew around until landing next to Ivan. "I knew it. His wing is fine." Ivan announced. Sheba slapped his shoulder. "You didn't need to scare the crap out of it and launch it into the air." "Well, what else was I supposed to do? Throw it off a cliff?" "No, but at least something more gentle. Jeez."  
  
They soon arrived at the stadium and sat down in the normal seats. The masses of spectators filed into the stands, and the day's battles were about to begin.  
  
"Today," The mayor began, "we have the quarter final round! Out first battle involves two Jupiter Adept! Ivan, from Kaylay, will be fighting Pitt, from Xian!" The two fighters walked out into the open arena. "Begin!" Pitt began with a furious assault of wind and lightning. Ivan retaliated with a Thunderclap that was deafening. The force of the shock shook up the stadium and knocked the wind out of Pitt. Pitt returned with a series of small Tornados, but they were easily destroyed with a Tempest. A lightning bolt crashed into Pitt, and the Tempest was soon upon him. He fell to his knees, and surrendered.  
  
Next was Sheba's turn. She faced an Earth Adept names Leia. Leia began with a set of Spires, followed quickly by a Grand Gaia. Sheba stumbled backward, but launched a Storm that shocked Leia. Leia returned with another set of Spires, knocking Sheba out of the playing field.  
  
Sheba walked into the back area in tears. "I lost. I lost to her." Ivan hugged her. "Don't worry. You made it really far. You did a good job." Sheba looked up. "Really?" "Of course." He kissed her on the cheek and wiped her face with his sleeve.  
  
"For our third battle of the day, we have Jenna, from Vale, fighting Troi, from Kolima." Jenna walked out onto the field, where Troi was waiting. "About time, little girl." "Shut up." "BEGIN!" Jenna launched a lizard-like beam of fire at Troi. He took the blast like it was nothing. She got even angrier and fired a barrage of Fireballs, which struck him directly in the chest. He didn't even flinch. Now completely pissed, Jenna gathered all of her Psynergy and ignited everything on the fighting field. Troi simply cast Douse, and his flaming armour fizzled out. He then focused and a column of water shot out of the ground right below Jenna. She was launched into the air and landed right outside the field on her back. Garet hopped up out of his seat. "Jenna!" Garet leapt over the railing and fell twenty feet to the ground. Ivan saw him as he first leapt, and a cushion of air was there to ease Garet's fall. He rushed over to Jenna, and kneeled down. Felix was right behind him. "Is she okay, Garet?" "I hope so." He picked her up and carried her out of the arena.  
  
Mia walked out of Jenna's room at the inn. Garet was standing outside the door, waiting for her. "She'll be fine. Another few hours of resting and she'll be as good as new." "Are we allowed in?" "Sure. Just be quiet." They walked in, Garet actually able to not make any sound.  
  
After a few hours, Jenna was awake. Ivan had brought supper upstairs for her, Garet, and Felix. Garet had offered to return the plates to the kitchen, and had just left. "I don't feel so good." "Well, you flew higher than Feather did when Ivan threw him into the air." "True. What happened after I landed?" "Well, Garet leapt over the wall like a lunatic. Ivan was able to use his Psynergy so that he didn't break his legs falling." "He did?" "Yeah. He never thinks. But he carried you all the way here. Mia and Rachael rushed ahead to get all of the supplies ready. Isaac ran to the Potion Shop to buy more herbs." "Wow. How many herbs did they use?" "Only three. I was surprised. With the herbs, you'll be able to fight in two days." "So, I'll be ready for the team fights?" "Yup. And Picard had the time to imbue all of our weapons. They are all a lot more powerful." Garet walked into the room. "It's getting late. Ivan and Sheba already went to bed. Picard has started his nightly meditation. I'll be downstairs for another hour or so, so if you need me, just holler." "Okay. I'll let you get your rest, Jenna." "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." Felix left the room, followed by Garet. All of the Mars Djinni had been left in the room, as they helped Jenna relax. They had been left on her bed, and were playing with each other.  
  
"How is she?" asked Alex. "She's fine." Garet responded. "Felix decided to go to sleep." "Good idea. It's getting late anyway." Alex got up and left the room. Mia returned to her room as well. "Dude, you almost broke your legs when you jumped over the rail." Isaac said. "Well, I didn't know anything else to do. I like to think of it as a shortcut." He looked down and started to scratch something on the paper he was holding. "Battle formation?" "Yup" he said without looking up. He dipped the feather back in the ink jar. "Well, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Don't stay up too late." "Okay. Hey, Isaac. Do me a favor. Toss another log into the fire. This might take a while, and I want to finish it tonight." "Alright." He tossed a medium sized log onto the fireplace. "See you tomorrow."  
  
Another hour had passed when Garet heard a noise behind him. He jumped up and grabbed his knife. "A little jumpy, are we?" "Jenna. Shouldn't you be asleep? It's late, and you had a rough day." "Couldn't. The djinn were jumpy." She held out her arms, and all the Mars Djinn hopped onto the table in front of the couch. "I could have gotten them for you. You should have said something." "I'll be fine." She sat down. Garet put down his knife and walked around the couch. "Well, you should at least stay warm." He put a blanket around her that was lying on the other couch, then returned to his schematics. "Thanks." She smiled at him. "Wow. It's getting late." Garet said, looking out the window of the room. "The clock tower says it's already midnight." "Already? It feels earlier." "I know." He sat back on the couch. "And I haven't finished the formation." "Just get Picard to help. Or Felix. I'm sure they would be happy to help." "You're right. I need to relax a bit." He moved all of the writing supplies aside and put his feet up. Jenna leaned over and put her back to his arm. She rested her head in his shoulder. "Felix told me how you jumped over the railing. Why'd you do that?" "Uum. I couldn't think of anything else. And I wanted to make sure you were alright." "Hmm." She closed her eyes, and leaned back more. Garet folded his hands in his lap and closed his eyes. Soon they both were asleep.  
  
  
  
Saturday, May 14th.  
  
Ivan walked down the stairs. It was barely five a.m. Ivan had always been a morning person. Sheba soon joined him, along with Picard and Mia. "You guys see Jenna and Garet on your way down?" Ivan asked. "How could you miss them? You pass them on the way into the dining room" Mia said. "Well Ivan. Are you ready for today's battle?" Picard inquired. "I guess. You know who I am facing first?" "Either Troi or Leia. Not sure which one though." "It doesn't matter." Sheba said. "He can beat them both." Ivan looked up from the ham he was frying. "At least you have some confidence in me."  
  
Ivan nudged Garet. He opened his eyes, but them closed them again. Ivan pushed him harder. "Hey, sleeping ugly. Wake up." He finally reopened his eyes and gently shook Jenna. "It's morning. Time to wake up." She stirred, but didn't get up. Garet slowly laid her down on the couch and stood up. "We can let her sleep for a few more minutes, right?" "Sure. I'll go wake the others." Ivan ascended the stairs and came down. The others soon followed. Everyone was sitting at the table. Jenna decided to finally get up, but was still somewhat tired. They finished breakfast with relative quiet.  
  
"Well, you're the only one fighting today. Good luck Ivan." Garet said as Ivan departed for the back room. The rest of the posse sat down in the stands. Ivan had two battles today, as it was the semifinals and the finals.  
  
"The first battle of the day is between Leia and Ivan. FIGHT!" Leia began with her usual barrage of Spires. Ivan expected this and easily dodged the rocks. He responded with an Air Blade, which missed Leia but shopped her Wooden Staff in half. She looked at the now useless sticks in horror. Ivan quickly summoned several Tempests, followed closely by a Spark Plasma. The shock knocked Leia out cold.  
  
The second and final battle of the semifinals passed, and the fighters were given an hour to rest up. Ivan jogged over to Sheba. "I got her back for you." "I saw. Thanks." Jenna looked over. "But remember, you still need to fight Troi." "I know. What could he be weak to?" No one was given time to respond.  
  
"For our final battle, we have Ivan, from Kaylay, fighting Troi, from Kolima. BEGIN!" Ivan knew that Troi had a high Fire Resistance, but was unsure about his Wind Resistance. Ivan began with a Thunder Flare, causing several lightning bolts to crash into Troi. He shook them off, but was obviously hiding pain. Ivan seized the newfound weakness. He quickly cast several Thunderclaps, knocking the wind out of Troi and stunning him. He continued the assault with a powerful series of Destruct Rays, which caused Troi to scream out in pain. Another Thunderclap, followed by a stream of strong wind, forced him to fall on his face, unconscious. "AND THE WINNER IS IVAN!" The crowed chanted his name, and he walked off the field with his head held high.  
  
Sheba ran up to Ivan. "You did it!" She jumped into his arms. The rest of the party soon joined them. "Good job. But next time you use Thunderclap, tell us beforehand so we can plug our ears." Felix said. "Sorry. I was in a hurry." "Well, that another one million gold coins to add to the stash. Say, when do we get those again?" Garet asked. "We already told you." Isaac began. "We get them at the ceremony on the last day of the competition." "Oh, yeah. Right."  
  
"So, you feeling better?" Felix asked as he walked into Garet's and Jenna's room. "Yeah. A lot better." "Good to hear." He sat down next to all the djinni. They didn't notice him at all. "Well, dinner is being made right now. Picard said it is in another five minutes." "Okay. You can go ahead. I'll be down in a few minutes. Thanks." Felix left the room and Jenna got out her diary. She began writing in it.  
  
"Well, we need something to protect Ivan, Sheba, Mia, and Jenna. We need people covering the sides." Garet was saying to Alex. "True, but if we do that, then we take off from our offense. And it leaves the front a little more open to attack." "Damn. We'll never get this." Picard popped out of the kitchen. "Dinner is ready for those who want it!" "Alright!" Alex yelled back. "I'll get Jenna. Hold on." Garet ran up the steps to the second floor. He knocked on the door. "It's open." He walked in. "Dinner is ready. If you want I can bring it up to you." "That's okay" she said as the put away her diary. "I'm coming." She stood up and walked out the door. He followed and closed the door behind him.  
  
Dinner was finished. Garet and Alex were still trying to figure out a suitable formation to use during the team fights, which started the next day. Felix was imputing different ideas for the plan as well. Jenna was upstairs with Mia and Sheba. "Okay, Jenna. Spill it" Sheba said excitedly. "Spill what?" Jenna responded, trying to sound innocent. "We both saw you asleep on the couch this morning" Mia told her. "Oh, yeah. I just wanted to know why he was up so late. And I couldn't sleep anyway." "And you decided his chest makes a good pillow?" Sheba popped in. "Well, you should talk. We all saw you on the boat when we were out at sea. You and Ivan sitting on that bench outside." "Well, what about Mia?" "What about me?" "You have to like someone. Ivan, Isaac, and Garet are off the 'available' list. Who is it?" "Well, I don't want to tell." "Come on. Who is it?" "Well, I sort of like Picard. He is really smart, and determined. And he knows how to cook." "Aww. You should talk to him about it." "Hey, Jenna. What do you plan on doing after we light all of the lighthouses?" Sheba asked. "Well, I want to go back to Vale. I need a vacation." The three girls laughed. "Well, Imil has the water from the fountain, so they don't really need me anymore. I'm not sure." "Well," Jenna began, "didn't Isaac say his mom was really sick?" "You're right. And Vale doesn't have any Mercury Adepts. I might stay there for a while." Jenna looked over at Sheba. "What do you plan to do?" "I'm not sure. I'm trying to decide whether to go back to Lalivero, or go move to Kaylay with Ivan." "Hmm. Well, ask Faran if he would be willing to move to Kaylay. I'm sure Hammet would allow you to stay." "I know. But I'm not sure if Faran would want to move." Just then Ivan poked his head in the room. "I'm going to sleep. It's already ten o'clock. Good night." "Ten already? Okay. I'll probably be there in fifteen minutes," Sheba said. "Goodnight Ivan." "See you tomorrow." His head disappeared. "I don't see why you are so worried. Faran already met Ivan, and there is nothing bad about him." Jenna offered. "I know." She heard two sets of loud footsteps rush past the hall. They came back, and Garet walked into the room. "Have any of you ladies seen Alex? He stole my paper saying that he'll come up with the formation alone." "No, Garet. But if we do, we'll be sure to tell you." "Thanks, Jenna." He left the room, and continued his search. "Thanks for not telling, Sheba." Alex walked out of the closet. Mia jumped to her feet. "How long have you been there?!" "Since Ivan came." "You didn't hear anything before that?" "Nope. Ask Sheba. She had to have noticed when I came in." "Yeah. I was going to say something until Garet walked in." "Thanks again." He left the room and walked downstairs. "Boys are so weird" Mia said.  
  
Garet walked into his bedroom. He laid down on the couch that was located inside it. Jenna stirred. "Garet? Is that you?" "Yeah. Sorry if I woke you. It's late anyway. I need some sleep. So do the djinni. They will get a workout tomorrow. "Speaking of djinni, you know the one we got for free?" "Yeah. How could I forget?" "Have you named him yet?" "I'm not sure what to call him. Most of the djinni have names relating to both their element and their unleash. I can't think of anything." "Well, stick with the unleash. It will make it a lot easier." "Okay. How about General. After all, it gives Command." "That works." "Okay. General it is." He stood up and walked over to Jenna's bed. "Now, you need to get some sleep. Good night."  
  
  
  
Sunday, May 15th.  
  
The tension in the stadium was suffocating. Only four teams had entered the party competition. One team was assembled by Sheen, and had seven Jupiter Adepts and Leia, the Earth Adept from the Psynergy Competition. The other Adepts were named Vlad, Gregory, Pitt, Hans, Colin, and Vincent. Another team was led by Troi, and was comprised of all Mercury Adepts with the exception of Ryu, who was also an Earth Adept. The Water Psynergists in that group were Harnak, Arthur, Enrique, David, Jared, and Aleya. The Venus Adept Patrick led the final team, and the other members were all Mars Adepts. They were named Henry, Cain, Ox, Darien, Terrance, Jonas, and Kristy. The officials of the competition had decided to hold one single match per day, which helped increase sales at the inns, restaurants, and other shops. Today's battle was between Felix's group and Sheen's group.  
  
The two battalions faced each other on the open arena. It had now been cleaned off completely, and everyone now called it the "battlefield." The party had decided to begin with Garet's original idea, which put Isaac, Picard, and Felix in the front. Directly behind them stood Jenna, Ivan, Sheba, and Mia. On either side of the line of spell casters stood Garet and Alex to protect them from a side attack. They were able to quickly rearrange the formation depending on the actions of the other group. The opposition chose a formation that put Leia in the front center. Two Adepts were on each side of her, and the final four were behind them. The mayor stood up and prepared to start the match. Both teams were already on the field.  
  
"This day marks the start of the Team Competition. We have only four teams, but they seem fired up and ready to do battle!" The crowd cheered wildly again. "Right now, we have a team that is led by Sheen, the swift Jupiter Adept, and a team that is led by Felix, the power Venus Adept! Let the battle BEGIN!" Sheen's team instantly split up. Sheen, Hans, and Colin ran to the left, while Vlad, Pitt, and Vincent ran to the right. Leia and Gregory ran directly toward them from the front. Isaac and friends quickly unleashed every djinni they could that raised their stats and blocked damage. All of Sheen's party unleashed Psynergies, but the firewalls and barriers deflected them. Ivan and Sheba quickly cast a joint Tempest, which lifted Vlad, Pitt, and Vincent off the ground. They were tossed across the arena and landed facedown. Only Pitt was able to remain conscious. Mia, Picard, and Alex also cast a joint Psynergy, which was a started out as Ice Missile, but because of the combination method, became Falling Glacier. The massive glacier smashed Leia and Gregory head-on. They were thrown so hard that they smashed into the wall. Massive chunks of concrete fell off the wall, burying both Leia and Gregory. Jenna and Felix concentrated, and Molten Rock shot out of the ground in the shape of a huge column. Sheen and Hans were able to dodge the attack, but Colin was severely burned. He passed out due to the intense heat. Sheen, Hans, and Pitt regrouped. They split up once again, and tried to attack from all sides. Alex disappeared next to Hans, and his foot caught Hans in the face. Hans back flipped from the force and landed on the ground. Isaac cast a weak Gaia, which made Pitt stumble. Isaac cast Ragnarok, with the earthsword falling from the sky and exploding on contact with Pitt. Garet and Felix rushed at Sheen. Felix cast Globe, which made a gigantic sphere of the ground lift up and crash down next to Sheen. Sheen tripped, and his chest was hammered by Garet's war hammer. He flew back into the fist of Felix, and fell to the ground. The dust was finally settling down where Isaac's Ragnarok had landed. Pitt just lay there, covered with dirt.  
  
The crowd looked in awe, for once impressed. The mayor stood up, and shouted, "And the winning party is Felix's!" The crowd cheered as an army of medics ran onto the field brandishing stretchers. The unconscious were loaded, with some help by Isaac using Carry to remove the pile of concrete. After they were off the field, Felix and the others retreated to the sanctity of the inn, which was now considered to be "Base Camp." Again, they took turns bathing and relaxing.  
  
It was late. Dinner had been finished, and all the dishes cleaned. Already the clock on the tower on City Hall had struck eleven. Garet was still up. Jenna, Isaac, and Alex were also awake. "We need something to do tomorrow. We have the day off." "Why not just relax? We need a vacation. All this violence." "Aren't we on vacation?" Isaac piped in. "You call beating the crap out of other Adepts a vacation?" "Of course. What else would you call it?" Garet asked. "Work. And you should never mix work and play." "Well, before you two get really into it, I'm going upstairs. Goodnight" Alex told them. "Yeah. He's right." Isaac got up. "I'll see you two tomorrow." "Goodnight" both Garet and Jenna said at the same time. Garet got up and put another log on the fire. Then he walked over to the stars. "I'll be right back." He rushed up the steps, and Jenna could hear him running through the upstairs hall. He turned at his room, and the steps retraced themselves. Then, she heard a louder noise. Garet came down the steps on his stomach, head first. His face met the floor, and he just laid there for a second. Jenna rushed to his side. "Are you okay?" "I've been better." He looked up, and blood was dripping from his nose. "You're bleeding. Hold on." She went upstairs, and entered Mia's room. She quietly retrieved some small bandages and left. Garet had gotten up and laid down on the couch. He was pinching his nose to stop the bleeding. The returned and sat down by Garet's head. She put the bandages on his nose, and instructed him to hold it there and apply pressure. He obeyed, and the bleeding soon stopped. "What the heck did you go get that was so important?" "I finally finished stretching out that hide I got from that cat thingy. I wanted to show you it." He picked up the large furry hide he had put next to him. "Wow. It's huge! How big is it?" I got it to eight feet wide and nine long." "Wow. How long have you been stretching it out?" "I did it every night when everyone slept." "Wow. It's really nice." "Thanks." He removed the bandage from his nose and sat up. "Much better." They heard more footsteps from upstairs. "Probably just someone that needs to use the outhouse" Garet said. The footsteps came down the stairs, and when they got to the bottom, Garet and Jenna turned around. Nothing was there. "An Amaze?" Garet asked as he pulled out his knife from his belt. "I doubt it. I haven't seen any of those in a while." The footsteps came from behind them. Garet spun around in time to be tackled. "Dumb dog." Fang was licking his cheek. Jenna was on the couch laughing. Garet rolled over and stood up. He sat back down on the couch next to Jenna. Fang jumped up and laid down on their laps. "Aww. So cute. Little doggy." Jenna scratched Fang on his head, then under the chin. Garet petted him on the back. Garet yawned. "Man. It's late." He looked out the window at the illuminated clock tower. "Twelve-thirty." "Whoa. Already?" "Yup. We should get to sleep." He stood up, and helped Jenna to her feet. Fang hopped up and ran back to Isaac's room. Garet gathered everything that he brought down throughout the day, and followed Jenna upstairs. He tossed everything he was carrying on the dresser that held all his clothes. Jenna left to the bathroom to change into her sleeping gown. Garet stretched out on the couch he had been sleeping on since they arrived. Jenna returned and slipped down the sheets on the bed. She climbed in, and pulled the sheets back up. "Hey Jenna?" "Yeah Garet?" "You think once we get back on the ships we will be sailing for a long time? I mean, who knows how far away the Mars Lighthouse is. We were lucky to catch up with you at Jupiter Lighthouse, and then we went back to Lemuria for Babi. And that took a while. Good thing Alex defected back at Jupiter too." "I know. But Picard's map and Iodem's navigation seems to say that Mars Lighthouse is only a week or two away." "A week or two?! I was hoping for maybe, four days!" "When we were coming from Lemuria we were on the ocean for three weeks! You should be happy!" "Fine. You win. I give up." He got up and put the warm fur blanket on Jenna's bed. "Thanks. Now go to bed. It's way too late for you to be up."  
  
  
  
Monday, May 16th.  
  
Garet finally sat down at the dining table. Everyone was already up, and had begun eating breakfast. He, as usual, piled his plate with food. Felix looked over. "Friggin' pig." "It's good. I just can't have enough." "Thanks," Ivan said, "but you could leave a few scraps for the animals." "Fine. This is all I'll have then." "Okay." Breakfast was finished in thirty minutes, and the table was cleared of dirty dishes in another ten. Garet, feeling guilty for eating so much, cleaned off the dishes, and even made sure to put them back in the right place. He sat down on the couch, between Jenna and Ivan. "What do you all want to do today?" Garet asked everyone. "Well, we can find out who we are fighting later, and we've already fought half the people in the both teams, so we should take a break from the fighting" Ivan suggested. Mia opened up. "Good. All this beating the crap out of people is really starting to gross me out." "Yeah," Sheba agreed. "Too much blood around. We deserve a rest." "Okay. Hmm." Isaac thought aloud. "We can wander around town." "Maybe get in a little training too" Garet offered. Mia stared at him. "You boys and violence." "It's just training. Not like we are really beating the crap out of each other." Picard looked up from the scroll he was reading. "Well, I sort of want some time to meditate some more." "That's fine" Felix told him. "We can wander around town for a bit," Isaac offered. "Okay" everyone agreed. They got up to get their armour, which they wore everywhere. Garet wore some extra ring mail to act as weights to help him build his muscles. They set off at nine.  
  
"Whoa. A weapons shop, right next to an armour shop" Garet remarked. "Great. Garet's heaven. Just our luck" Jenna said as Garet rushed inside. The others followed.  
  
Swords covered the left wall, and a wooden stand in the center of the store held axes. War hammers were on the wall behind the counter, and several different knives were on the wooden stand by the storeowner. Staves and maces were on the right wall, and special artifacts and rare weapons were on the wall where the door was. Garet walked in like a six-year-old walks on Christmas morning. Jenna, Mia, Ivan, and Sheba looked at the staves and maces, trying to find a nice scepter for decoration on the ships. Isaac and Felix were browsing the artifacts, while Picard was looking at the swords. Garet was busy looking at the many different axes and hammers. Alex was looking at the rare items, trying to find exotic knife. He noticed some odd katars, which he found intriguing. "Hey, Isaac." "Yeah Alex?" "Come over here." Isaac jogged across the room and stopped next to Alex. "What is it?" "Have you ever seen anything like this?" He showed him the katar, which had a red handle with a stiff grip. "Yeah. Over here." He led Alex to the wall of swords, and took down a sword. "That's a samurai sword, imported all the way from Xian. All I need is some samurai armour and I will have a nice set," the shopkeeper revealed. "It's finely crafted. Good blade. Even has the curve, from when the fold the metal onto itself and pound it in" Picard said, walking next to him. "Ah. A weapons fan. I'm impressed." "I used to be an assistant at a blacksmith. And I have a friend who forges armour and swords back home." "Where is that?" "Lemuria." "Lemuria?! I could use your help for a second." He led Picard, Alex, and Isaac back to the rear room, where there was a blast furnace, anvil, water tub, long tongs, and several hammers. "I was trying to forge a remake of a Lemurian saber, and I was having trouble getting the handle right. None of the descriptions I've heard have given me an accurate idea of what it looks like." Picard unsheathed his scimitar. "They look like this." He showed him the intricate details of the handle. "Wow. That's a nice handle." He led them back to the front of the store and drew the handle of the sword at several different on a long scroll. "Thank you very much." "Anytime." "Now, I have a question" Alex began. "How much are these Xiani weapons. They are amazing." "Well, since your friend helped me with the handle, I'll sell them to you for half price." "Really? Thanks." Garet walked up holding a large hammer, which he retrieved while the owner was in the back room. It was the same size as his current hammer, but this new one had two dragons that coiled up the handle. At the top, the dragons parted, and each had it' head on one side of the hammer. Both dragons were breathing fire, and were very detailed. "I plan on buying this." "You already have a hammer" Jenna commented as she walked up next to him. "Yeah, but this one is able to boost my fire abilities a lot." Picard walked up from the other swords carrying a sword that was etched with odd characters. They were unknown to anyone there. "I'm getting this." "Well, your total is seventy-five thousand gold." Isaac took out the pouch he held all the team's gold in. He counted out seventy-five thousand, and handed over the money. The owner graciously thanked them, and the group left. They walked over to the next building, the armour shop. Picard put the samurai sword in its sheath and hooked the sheath in his belt. The katar could be attached to the sheath of the samurai sword, and so it was easy to store. Garet fastened both hammers he had to his back in the shape of an "X", with both the handles sticking out above his shoulders. Alex merely put his new sword in its sheath, which also hooked onto his belt. "Whoa. Tons of armour" Felix said as he entered the store. Shields were stacked on each other. Gauntlets were handing from rope from the ceiling, which saved room. Leather armour was on one wall, while several different types of metal armour was on another. Helms were on the close wall, and everything else was on the far wall, except for the robes, which was kept on a rack in the center of the store. Garet went right to the helms. He found an odd looking helm, which he picked up. It looked like a Warrior's Helm, except there was a large dragon that was etched into it. The mouth opened where the helmet opened up to reveal the wearer's face. Alex found a pair of Ice Gauntlets and Samurai Armour, which he tried on to see how they fit. Mia, Sheba, Jenna, and Rachael were looking through the robes, while Ivan was examining some Adept's Armlets. Felix was picking up different armlets, while Isaac looked through several differed shields. They walked up to the owner of the store and paid him the money for the items. They then left the store carrying the armours. "We haven't heard who won the fight yet. You want to stop by the mayor's house to find out?" Garet asked. "Sure. But we can't stay too long" Jenna said. The ten people and two animals marched up to the mayor's home, and turned into the walkway. They knocked on the door, and an assistant answered. "Yes. You are one of the teams for the battles, aren't you? The mayor told me to let you in if you come by." "Thanks you" Felix said with a smile. The assistant led them to the mayor's office, and they went in. "Yes. You are one of the Adept teams. What can I do for you?" "First, we were wondering who won today's match." "Well, Troi's team did. Not even one of them was knocked out." "Wow. We will have a big fight tomorrow" Felix said aloud. "What was your second question?" Isaac looked up. "Well, I've been wondering what is going to happen after the closing ceremony." "Well, the day after there is always a ball. The winners of all the categories are invited, as well as everyone who fought and won at least one battle." "Oh. A ball. Sounds like fun. Thanks for the help." "Anytime. My assistant will show you out. Stop by any time." They left the house, and stopped on the sidewalk of the stone road. "Well, what do you want to do now?" "Well, I want to go put the things we bought away back at the inn" Garet told them. "Sounds like a plan" Isaac said. "Well, we need to get something to wear to the ball. I didn't bring anything other than normal clothes," Mia said. "We can do that too. Let's stop at the inn first. It's about time for lunch anyway." They left for the inn, and were there within a few minutes. They all sat down on the main living room. "Hmm." "What Garet?" Ivan asked. "You know that hammer I bought today. I just noticed it has these weird markings on it. And those same markings are on my Dragon Shield, Dragon Scales, and Dragon Axe." "Hold on. I have a book on ancient languages." Ivan left the room and rushed upstairs. He returned with a large book. After careful examination of all the items, he looked up. "They are all from a set. You have all of the items in it. It was made by the Fire Clan of the North." "Saturos' clan made these?!" "Yup. They have to have some special power though. Especially if you have all of the pieces." Picard walked over. "What about these characters. No one knows what they say, but they look familiar to me." Ivan took the sword, then flipped several pages in the book. "It seems to be part Lemurian. But it isn't completely Lemurian. It seems to have some Hesperian in it as well. It has some characters that are a lot like the Lemurian alphabet, but they are a bit different." "So you aren't quite sure?" "Not completely. If we ever go back to Tolbi we can have a few of the scholars look at it."  
  
After an hour of rest, they set out again. They were walking along the street when they Mia noticed someone. She stopped. "What is it Mia?" "Isaac, is that who I think it is?" she asked, pointing to a girl walking along the other side of the street. "It looks a lot like Fiezhi, but she lives all the way in Xian." Picard looked over. "Xian? The elders of Lemuria wanted me to go to Xian, if it wasn't out of the way. They wanted some Xiani silk, and to go try to establish trade with them. Xian and the monks at Fuchin Temple." "Well, let's go talk to her" Felix said. "Hey, Fiezhi! Over here!" She turned her head. Her eyes widened, and she ran over. "I've finally found you." Everyone looked puzzled. Fang growled at her. Isaac pointed his finger at Fang, and the animal stopped. "Finally?" he asked, looking at her. "Yeah. After you saved Hsu, he decided to become a monk in Fuchin Temple. He wanted to preach peace to everyone. My father told me to go find you and help you out in any way I could." "How long have you been looking for us?" "Two months. It knew I would find you here after I stopped at the port city. A few Adepts were grumbling about some kid named Isaac that kicked their butts in the War of the Adepts. So, now I'm here." "Well, welcome." Felix looked around. "Anyone have any objections with her joining us?" "Nope." "Good. Then you can join us on our way to the tailors. We need to buy some nice clothing for a ball that is going on in two nights." "A ball? Sounds like fun." "Good. Come on." They continued to the tailor's shop, which was a small shop located near the end of the main street.  
  
"Hello. What can I do for you?" the man asked them. "We all need some new clothes. We are going to go to the ball for the tournament." "Well, right this way. My assistant will help you ladies." The five girls walked over to where an older lady was standing. The boys just began browsing through the various clothing there was on the racks. "Well, I'll need your measurements. Who will go first?" The boys just looked at each other. "Umm. How about Alex?" Garet said. After taking all the measurements from the six males, he came out with several nice articles. They tried them on, and then thanked the man. The girls of the group walked over and the party left.  
  
"So, what'd you get?" Garet asked Jenna on the way home. "I'd show you, but I'm going to keep it a secret. You'll just have to wait until the ball." "Man. I hate waiting." "Just think of it as a surprise." "I don't want it to be a surprise." Felix proceeded to thwack him on the hip with the sheath of his sword. "Quit whining, you big baby." "Fine" Garet said, obviously unhappy." They finally reached the inn and put their new clothing away.  
  
Already an hour had passed before they were ready to begin cooking dinner. Everyone helped Fiezhi move her stuff to the inn that they were staying at, and had rented out another room. Picard was meditating in his room. Fiezhi was admiring the samurai set that Alex had bought. "It is one of the swords our blacksmiths forged. And the katar is from Xian as well" she told Alex. "What about the armour?" "It's Xiani as well. But I have never seen any like this in a while. The new forms of armour are lighter and more durable." "Oh. So it's sort of rare?" "Yup. They are really comfortable too." "Really?" He lifted the armour above his head and tried it on. "It's a little tight. Maybe Ivan could fit in it. Or maybe you." He took off the armour and handed it to Fiezhi. She lifted it over her head and pulled it down. "Feels good." "Perfect fit" Alex said. He picked up the katar and sword. There was a loop of metal where the sword attached to the armour. "It looks good on you." Fiezhi blushed. "I'm getting used to my sword and katar techniques. I just needed some armour." "It's yours. And the weapons. I'm not really experienced with swords anyway. I like Psynergy and knives." "Thanks." She left the downstairs room and put away the Samurai Set. Garet had his Dragon Set propped up in his room. The five pieces were neatly placed out together.  
  
"Dinner! If you are hungry, then you better hurry, because Garet is already here!" Ivan yelled. "Hey! I resent that!" Garet retorted. "Well, it's true, isn't it?" "I should hurt you for that." Dinner was finished, and everyone went to sleep. They needed to be as well rested as possible for the battle with Troi.  
  
  
  
Tuesday, May 17th.  
  
Garet walked downstairs. Breakfast had already been finished, and everyone was preparing for the fight. Ivan was wearing his Feathered Robe, as was Jenna, Sheba, and Mia. He brandished his Shaman's Rod, but he had his Kusanagi as a side arm. Garet put on his Dragon Set, and stored the shield on his back. The ladies were wearing their various circlets and staves. Alex had his new Ice Gauntlets as well as the long knife he carried around with him. Picard had both his scimitar and the new sword, which he called the Lemurian/Hesperian Sword. He kept his shield on his back as well. Isaac and Felix just kept their normal weapons. The noncombatants of the group still armoured themselves, but didn't bring any weapons. They set off for the arena.  
  
"Now, for the final battle of the tournament! The nine member strong party of Felix, Isaac, Garet, Jenna, Sheba, Ivan, Mia, Picard, and Alex, will be facing the group of Troi, Ryu, Jared, Aleya, David, Enrique, Arthur, and Harnak!" Both teams took the field. "Let the battle BEGIN!" Isaac began with a series of Mother Gaias, while Felix assaulted them with some Boulder Barrages. Mia, Picard, and Alex and concentrated together, and a massive wall of ice and snow fell from the sky. Jenna, Ivan and Sheba concentrated together to make a Fiery Tornado, scorching the ground and raising outside temperatures several degrees. When the dust and smoke cleared, only two Adepts had fallen. Ryu was lying on the ground next to some Water Adept. They all concentrated together, and a downpour of ice and snow covered the field. A global effect boosted all of the Water Adepts' abilities, while impairing all Fire Psynergies. Jenna was obviously weakened, but Garet stood tall. He charged at the Mercury Adepts, swinging his Dragon Hammer wildly and bashing them with his shield. Troi dodged the aging Garet, and ran. He paused and fired several Ice Spheres at Jenna, hitting her in the stomach and chest. She fell down, coughing and wheezing, but still barely conscious. Garet looked at her, then at Troi. He emitted a yell. General, the djinn, unleashed itself, increasing not only agility, but strength and attack power. All of the Dragon equipment began to glow bright red. Fire erupted from the ground all around Garet. A fiery dragon surrounded Garet, and then absorbed itself into Garet. Garet attached his shield and axe to his back, and firmly grasped his hammer. An inferno engulfed Garet's hands, moving up to the head of the hammer. He raced with superhuman speed straight at the group of scared Mercury Adepts. The hammer smashed into chests and thighs, shoulders and legs. Bones snapped like twigs. All were rendered unconscious, while Troi cowered in a far corner. Garet looked up, and spat fiery spit. He charged again, attaching his hammer to his back next to his axe. His fists blazed with an unquenchable flame. He reached Troi in seconds, and began a massive barrage of fiery punches. Troi caught on fire, and the assault continued. Finally, Garet backed off, grasped the handle of his hammer, and leapt forward. The head of the hammer smashed into Troi's chest, throwing him through the massive iron doors that the Adepts entered the arena through. He landed on the ground, blood coming from his mouth. Garet passed out, so fatigued from the attack that he collapsed under his own weight.  
  
"Garet. Wake up." Garet opened his eyes. "Wha-?" "You've been out for a while." "How long, Jenna?" "About three hours. You missed lunch." "Aww, man. That sucks." "Well, we saved you a bit." She gave him a plate that was on the dresser next to Garet. Felix walked in. "Hey. That was sweet. That dragon move. What was that?" "I don't remember. What dragon thing?" Ivan was passing the room when he heard Garet's question. "It was probably the special unleash that you need the entire Dragon Set for." "Oh. I kind of remember. How is the other team? They okay?" "The medics say they will probably be out for a few days." "Oops. So, what time is it?" "It's a little past four." "Wow. Already?" He tried to stand up. Felix left the room, busying himself downstairs. "You should relax some more. You did beat the crap out of seven different Adepts on your own." "Fine." He laid back down. "So, what is there to do? I mean, I can't get up, so there is pretty much nothing to do." "Fine. You win. You can get up." Garet smiled. "I knew you'd see it my way." He threw off the sheets from the bed and tried to stand up. He hobbled for a second, but finally caught his balance. "Well, now that you're up, go take a bath. You smell." Garet looked at her from the corner of his eye. "And I'm sure you smelled strawberry fresh right after the fight yourself." He walked over to the dresser and got a clean set of clothing. His armour had already been removed, so he didn't have to worry about that. He began to walk out of the door when he stumbled and fell on his face. Jenna rushed over. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. As soon as your two twins leave I'll be as good as new." Jenna laughed and helped him up. "I'll help you to the bathroom, but that's it." "What. No sponge bath?" "Don't push your luck." "Come on. I'm inured." "You're about to be even more injured if you don't stop." He quickly shut his mouth. They reached the bathing room door, and he walked in.  
  
Jenna walked downstairs. "Garet's up. I convinced him to take a bath so he doesn't smell bad." "Good. Now, what are we going to do tomorrow? I mean, the ball starts at seven, so we have pretty much the entire day to kill" Felix asked. "Well, we can go into the woods to train a bit. We haven't been out of the city. I need some fresh air," Alex suggested. "Yeah. I wanted to go into the woods as well. I want to try meditation, and it is too hard to do that in town" Ivan said. "I'll teach you some tricks. It's best to meditate outdoors. It's much more serene and peaceful." "Thanks Picard." "Well, while you two are meditating, I'll be training with Alex" Felix announced. "I might as well join Alex and Felix. I need to train more." Jenna looked over. "I'm tired of training. I'm going to go through town. Anyone else want to come?" Sheba, Mia, and Rachael looked over. "Well go with you Jenna." Feizhi spoke up. "I'll train with Alex, Felix, and Isaac. I need to catch up on training, and it would be nice to have a sparring partner." Garet came down the stairs. He was more awake and in control of his limbs, so he didn't need any help. Ivan spoke up. "Hey Garet. You look different. Does anyone else notice it?" Everyone looked over. "Yeah. He seems a bit bigger. His shoulders are a little broader, and his arms seemed beefed up." "Good. So it wasn't just me." He sat down. "So, what's the plan?" "Well," Ivan began, "we are figuring out what everyone is doing tomorrow. You'll want to go train, right?" "Not this time. I feel sort of weakened from today. I'll take tomorrow off." Everyone looked at him, surprised. "Really? Then what are you going to do?" "I don't know. What is everyone else doing?" "Well, Picard and I are going to meditate, Jenna, Rachael, Sheba, and Mia are going to wander around town, and Isaac, Felix, Alex, and Feizhi are going to train." "Well, meditation isn't my thing. So I'll just wander around town with the ladies, if that's all right with them." "Sure" Jenna piped in. "Good. It's settled. We can let the animals train as well. They have been getting lazy" Ivan said matter-of-factly. "I'll go start dinner." "I'll help" Picard said. "Me too" Sheba added. The three left for the kitchen.  
  
  
  
Wednesday, May 18th.  
  
Garet got up at his usual time. He walked downstairs and joined up with everyone at the breakfast table. They ate with the normal amount of noise, and cleaned up. When they were finished, they left to get ready for their day. Garet merely wore his normal clothing, and just brought his knife. Jenna wore her normal clothing, as did Mia, Sheba, and Rachael. Mia was able to convince Isaac to let them bring some money, as they might find something they like. Garet promised to try to keep them from spending it all. Felix, Alex, Isaac, and Feizhi put on their armour and grabbed their weapons and some smoked meat. Ivan and Picard took some basic essentials. Felix left with the others who were training, as well as the animals. Picard and Ivan left to follow the river just outside of the town. They found a calm pond with some large stones in the middle. Picard sat down and crossed his legs under him. He folded his hands in his lap and slowed his breathing. Ivan followed, and Picard told him various things about how to meditate.  
  
Garet was walking behind three of the ladies. Jenna was beside him, talking to the others. They hadn't bought anything yet, but they had been out for only an hour. They passed the Weapons Shop and Armour Shop on their way. "Don't you want to go in?" Jenna asked him. "Nah. There is another shop deeper in the city that I heard about." "Really? Better be good." "It supposedly has a lot of items for Adepts." "Okay. Just lead the way." "Well, I don't exactly know where it is. So I'm just going to wander around with you all." "Fine. But if you want to stop, just say something." The shoppers continued for a little while. They had stopped at shops, and a few items were bought, but nothing extravagant. Finally, Garet came across the Adept's Shop. Garet entered, followed by the others.  
  
The shop was filled with items. It was twice the size of normal shops, but it had something for everyone. Weapons and armour were neatly placed and organized. Healing items were stored next to the owner. Several Psynergy- bestowing items were kept next to the healing items. Other expendables were kept next to those. Garet rushed to the weapons and armours. Mia was browsing through the different healing items, paying close attention trying to locate some Psy Crystals. Sheba was trying to find any good Psynergy- bestowing items, but most were too simple to be useful or they already had it. Jenna was looking at the miscellaneous items, and located several Mints, as well as a few loaves of Power Bread. Garet found a pair of Inferno Boots that fit him. The females walked over to him. "Great. More armour." "They have a lot of good stuff here." "Hey." Sheba walked over to the helms. She picked up an elegant tiara. "This is nice." Jenna, Mia, and Rachael followed her. There were several more different tiaras and circlets. "These would go great with my dress." Garet groaned. "Women. I'll never understand them." He walked over to them. "Wait. You can't see these" Jenna said. "Another surprise? I'm overjoyed," he returned sarcastically. "Well, you need to wait outside. We'll pay for everything. But you can't watch." Garet rolled his eyes. "Fine." He handed over the boots and the sack of gold coins. He left for the door.  
  
Ivan was concentrating on the sounds around him. He could sense Picard's calm energy. Ivan listened to everything. Picard's breathing. The small coi breaking the water's surface. A breeze rustling the leaves of the trees. The chirping of the birds in the trees. The slight distant sound of crashing metal. He had been sitting still for over two hours. He opened his eyes and looked around. The small fish had been gathering around the smooth rock he was sitting on. He wanted to stretch out, but didn't want to disturb Picard. Finally, Picard stood up. "Ah. That was refreshing." Ivan looked up. "It was. I feel more aware of the things around me. And I feel really energetic." "You should. It helps open up the mind. If you keep meditating, you might learn some new Psynergies." "Excellent. Well, what are we going to do now?" "I'm going back to the inn. There are some things I need to take care of." "All right. I'm going to hang around here a bit. I'll be back in about an hour." "Okay." Picard left, following the path back to town. Ivan began walking around the pond, looking at the different foliage and wildlife.  
  
Isaac paused, breathing deeply. He had been training with Felix for a while. Feizhi was practicing her sword techniques on a stump she and Alex found earlier. Fang and Feather were still fighting, but not really hurting each other. Feather was able to fly around now, so aerial attacks were annoying Fang. Alex was punching another log a bit further away. Felix leapt towards Isaac. Their swords clashed, and the duel continued. Isaac smacked Felix's sword away with his shield, and elbowed him in the shoulder. Felix returned with a kick in the stomach. Isaac dell down. "Sorry about that." Felix helped Isaac to his feet. "Don't worry." He stabbed the ground with his sword. "I need a rest anyway." He plopped down on the grass. "What do you want to do now?" "Sleep." Isaac laid down in the grass. Fang and Feather had stopped fighting, and were now lapping up water from the small stream that ran by them. Feizhi had chopped off so much wood from the log that small piles of wood chippings had started to form. She finally finished off the log with a hard swing, cutting the log in half. The top half fell down on the ground. She picked it up and walked over to Isaac and Felix. She dropped it on the grass and sat down. Alex popped up next to her. "You guys ready to go?" Alex asked. "Sure. I'm hungry anyway." Isaac whistled, and the two animals came charging to him. The four people and two beasts left the training ground.  
  
"You four ready?" Garet asked as the ladies left the shop. "You bet. Where to next?" Sheba answered. "Well, it's already twelve-thirty. You want to go get lunch?" Mia asked. "Sounds good. There is a restaurant a block down" Rachael said. "All right. I'll carry that." Garet grabbed the bags out of Jenna's hands. "Thanks." Jenna smiled. "But no peeking." They continued to the restaurant and sat down. They ordered and were served. Jenna had a mere salad. "Aren't you going to have more? I mean, you can't be full from just that" Garet said. "Well, I need to watch what I eat." "What do you mean? I watch what I eat and I feel fine." Sheba looked over. "You watch it go into your mouth. You don't care if it's still kicking around or not." "I want to stay thin" Jenna told him. "Oh, right. Like you're in trouble of gaining weight. You look great. Splurge a little. Have something else too," Garet said. "Fine. I'll have a bowl of soup too." Garet smacked his head against the table. A few customers stared for a second, but soon went back to what they were doing. "Come on. Have the shrimp and pasta. You'll like it." "Do you have any idea how bad that is for you?" "Do you have any idea how good it tastes?" "Fine. I'll just mooch off of you." "That's fine with me." Mia looked up. "Garet? Willing to share his food? We might need a doctor." Garet gave her a glance while the others laughed. Lunch was finished soon after. "I told you you'd like it." "Fine. You win. It was good." "Well, what now?" "There isn't much else to do. The ball starts at five, and it is already one. We'd better head back to the inn" Rachael suggested. "Okay." They walked to the inn, which was a half hour away. They arrived, and saw that the others were already back. "Hey Sheba. I want to show you something." Sheba walked over and sat down next to Ivan. He opened his warm Feathered Robe and exposed a small, purple egg. "Is that what I think it is?" She asked. "Yup. It's a Djinni Egg. I found it by the pond. It had been obviously abandoned or something, because it looked like the nest was pretty worn out." "It's so small." "It's probably no more than a few weeks old." "Thank you Ivan." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll go put it in a warm place." She walked upstairs. "Well, we are going to start getting ready for the ball. We will need a few rooms, so you boys will have to move your stuff so we can get ready" Rachael said. "Fine." The males moved their supplies into Felix's room, as Alex had begun to bunk with Feizhi.  
  
Four and a half hours went by. The boys decided to leave and the girls were to catch up with them at the ball. All of the djinn had been left at the inn, as well as the pets. Feather had been keeping a close guard on the Djinni Egg, and would only let Jupiter Djinn near it. The boys were becoming impatient. Finally, the girls stepped into the huge hall. Garet's jaw dropped. The ladies walked over to rejoin the others. "Well, surprise" Jenna said. Garet, for the second time in his life, was speechless. "I think he likes it" Mia whispered. Felix busied himself with the others at the party, dancing with several different girls. Troi was there, but none of his party members had shown up. Picard stood up. He walked over to the orchestra and asked the maestro a question. The man pondered for a second, then nodded his head. The orchestra began playing a Lemurian Waltz. Picard walked next up to Mia. "Would you like to dance?" "I'd love to." He led her to the center of the room. Only one other couple knew how to dance the Lemurian Waltz, and the other guests had began to watch them. Picard held Mia's hand, and slid his arm around her hip. They began to dance, Mia following Picard's lead. He whispered into Mia's ear, "The Queen of Lemuria is envious of your beauty." Mia blushed. They continued to dance, with several other guests joining as they figured out the steps. Soon it was over, and Picard led Mia to her seat. "I'll be right back." He walked over to the orchestra and tipped them. He left out the door, and soon returned with a beautiful white rose, which went well with her flowing blue dress. Her tiara kept her hair as it was, nicely let down and with a slight curl at the end. Ivan glanced over at Picard and mentally said "Show off." Picard just shot back with a sly smile of satisfaction. Several dances had passed, and Alex had been spending many of tem with Feizhi. Isaac stayed with Rachael, even rejecting a pretty young woman who asked him to dance. Garet was still speechless. He finally regained his ability to talk. "Wow, Jenna. You look stunning" Garet said, looking at her lovely red dress. Her hair was down, and was decorated with a glamorous tiara. Sheba was clothed in a purple dress and a circlet, as a tiara wouldn't stay on. Feizhi wore a blue dress similar to Mia's but no headpiece. Rachael wore a yellow gown, also without a head ornament. Jenna smiled. "You don't look so bad yourself." She pulled him out on to the open floor, and they began to dance. Ivan and Sheba soon appeared not too far from them, followed by Picard and Mia. Isaac and Rachael soon joined the dancing also, as did Alex and Feizhi. Felix was still wandering around with some female he had met. The night came much too fast, and the ball was soon over. The other guests made their way out the door, and the hall was empty, and Isaac and friends were on their way home. Garet was still in awe at the sight of Jenna. Felix took the liberty to snap him back into reality with a smack upside his head. Garet just gave him an evil stare, not wanting to do anything to upset Jenna. Jenna gave Felix a bad glance and nodded her head. Felix slumped down.  
  
The trip back to the inn wasn't very long. The boys had already changed into their normal clothing, as it was more comfortable. The ladies were about done. They finally came down the stairs, dressed in their everyday attire. Sheba was carrying the Djinni Egg, keeping it warm by holding it close to her. She curled up in a blanket by the fire. Ivan joined her. "How's it doing?" "Pretty good so far. It's staying warm." Isaac looked over his shoulder at the massive clock tower. "It's already midnight. We can leave tomorrow, so I want to get to bed." "That's a good idea," Alex said. Everyone filed out of the room and up the stairs. They dropped off one by one at their rooms. Ivan relaxed on the bed, and Sheba soon laid down next to him. She carefully placed the egg next to Feather, and took off her djinn. Ivan did the same, and they all laid down next to the egg. Sheba turned over. "Ivan. How long do you think it will take the egg to hatch?" "A few more weeks at least." "So we will be on the ships by them, right?" "Probably. Why?" "Well, I want it to hatch while we are on open seas. It would be better. It wouldn't get lost at night." "True." He kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight." He closed his eyes and went to sleep.  
  
  
  
Thursday, May 19th.  
  
The group was ready to depart from the city. They had already packed up everything they owned and had their items by the entranceway. Garet had an especially heave load due to the weapons he bought. He welcomed the challenge, as it would help out his training a lot. They had eaten breakfast and stocked up on supplies, including food and spices. Garet had to get his jerky. They soon departed, and made excellent time. By the day's end, they had covered twice the ground that they had walked over on their first trip. Feather was now strong enough to fly, but the group had given him some supplies to carry, so its wings were kept down. They relaxed for lunch and took a rest. "At this rate," Ivan said, looking at the map, "We should be at the ships within a week and a half, maybe less." "Good. I want to go light the dumb lighthouse and get this over with" Garet told him. "Well, we will probably be afloat for a few weeks, but after that, nothing but land, until we decide to go back home." "Good." They finished lunch and continued walking. At nightfall, they found a clearing to relax in. Garet made a fire, using the easy way and shooting a small fireball at the pile of wood the assembled. They ate and relaxed. Sheba stayed close to the egg, making sure that it was always warm. It had increased in size a bit, reassuring her that the djinni inside was healthy. They again took turns on lookout, and Garet took his first. The boys decided to trade lookout duties amongst themselves, letting the girls sleep undisturbed.  
  
Tuesday, May 24th.  
  
The trip had been relatively uneventful. The most action they had seen was a Manticore eating a Plated Rat. Garet was bored out of his mind. He wanted something exciting to happen. They were packing up from lunch when a group of Boulder Beasts hopped out and surrounded them. Boulder Beasts were pretty weak compared to the other monsters they had fought, so Isaac wasn't worried. But several more Boulder Beasts joined them, and soon they were outnumbered three to one. Everyone had taken off their packs and readies their weapons. Feather was relieved of his luggage and stretched out his wings. Fang had started going into his battle frenzy. The Boulder Beasts closed the circle up. Feather sprang and grabbed one in his powerful talons. He flew straight into the air, and dropped it on another Boulder Beast. Both creatures were rendered unconscious. Fang charged and tore through several of them. Mia cast Ice Missile, which impaled four beasts, slaying them instantly. Garet bashed one in the head with his Dragon Hammer, knocking it clean through a tree. Isaac sliced one completely in half vertically. Picard did the same horizontally to another. Jenna turned a small group of them into fuel for an Inferno, and Sheba launched several others through the air with Whirlwind. Ivan trapped one in a cage of electricity, and Alex used one as a soccer ball. Feizhi had sliced two with her samurai swords and impaled another with her katars. Rachael had split open the small stomach of yet another. The rest ran off, fearing for their lives. Ivan released the electric cage, and allowed the scared creature to flee. The group continued as normal. "Well, that was fun" Garet said as he strapped his sack of items and clothing. "Good workout" Isaac said agreeing. They continued until dark, when they settled down and set up temporary camp. A fire was again lit by Garet, nearly setting the trees and Ivan ablaze. Luckily Ivan was able to use Gust to keep the embers in the fire pit. Dinner was prepared using the fresh meats they had brought with them. Everyone relaxed, Garet satisfied with the fight earlier.  
  
  
  
Saturday, May 28th.  
  
Ivan had volunteered for the morning lookout, as he enjoyed being awake earlier. Sheba was awake with him, as well as Picard. Sheba was packing up Ivan and her's sleeping bags. Picard busied himself with the daunting task of waking the others up, including the rock Garet. Soon everyone was awake and eating. Another twenty minutes had them on the path. Sheba continued to hold the Djinni Egg close, keeping it warm and safe. They had already passed the cave they slept in on the previous journey, and were back in the woods. When they finally reached the place there the slew the Manticore, Fang stopped. Sniffing around, he began to growl viciously. Garet unhooked his axe, as Picard unsheathed his scimitar. Alex prepared the Lemurian Blade that Picard had given him. Fang started to follow a trail into the woods with everyone else close behind. After a small frolic through the forest, they came across the source of the scent. A cave that led down seemed to contain the origin of the smell. The group cautiously entered the cave, Garet leading with a flaming hand. He threw a fireball deeper into the cavern every so often to see if there would be a turn or an end. After an hour's worth of wandering, they finally found what had caught the attention of the fenrir. A blade, shrouded in dark light, was floating in the air in the final room. Alex walked up to it. "Whoa. Hey Felix. Is this what I think it is?" "Probably. We have the Sol Blade." He took out the glowing weapon. "Finally. Another Legendary Artifact. Three down, four to go." He walked up and braced himself. Sheathing the Lemurian Blade, Alex grasped both hands on the hilt of the floating sword. With all his concentration, he pulled. The blade left the ray of dark light and the shape on the hilt of the sword began to glow. The Luna Blade was finally acquired! The small moon on the hilt glowed even brighter, and the ground began to shake violently. Fiezhi took out her Samurai Sword and a katar. "Aww, crap" she said aloud.  
  
A massive monster concealed in darkness arose from the ground. "You have disturbed my slumber! You will now forfeit your lives to the darkness!" Alex tightened his grip on the sword as Felix appeared next to him. The monster roared. "That bright light! Nooo!" Felix gave a sly grin. "He is a Luna Elemental! Only Sol attacks can really damage him!" Alex put the Luna Sheath around his back. Sheathing the Luna Blade, he unsheathed the Lemurian Blade again. Isaac appeared with the other Legendary Artifact, his Gaia Blade. Garet had his Dragon Set ready, while Picard swung his scimitar around. Fiezhi popped up next to Alex. Alex turned to her. "You should try to keep out of this. We don't even know what we are up against." "I need the experience." "But-" "I'm staying." Admitting defeat, Alex shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, but do everything you can to avoid his attacks." "Fine." Fang had come from behind Isaac, and Feather was guarding the mages. Ivan, Jenna, Sheba, and Mia looked straight at the Elemental. None of the group had never fought a true Elemental, so they weren't sure exactly what to expect. Ivan prepared himself. "Gale! Breeze! Aero!" The three djinn appeared from his chest. Instantly, everyone felt much lighter. Felix decided not to loose the first attack. He moved at blinding speed and completely severed the Elemental's arm off with the Sol Blade. He leapt off the wall and ended in his starting spot. An odd noise threw them off guard. The arm regrew in front of their eyes! Garet decided that just standing around was too boring. "Nitro!" The djinni appeared, and a massive fiery explosion smashed the Elemental in the chest. The Elemental fell to the ground, but was soon back on its feet. Felix finally got an idea. "It's weaker when there is light in the room! Garet! Give us a Fireball or two!" "My pleasure." He fired several Fireballs around the room, igniting the pile of wood they had brought with them. Jenna rushed over to separate a few pieces to use as torches as Mia put the rest out to conserve them. The battle continued, with the Elemental getting slowly worn down by the light of the torches and the Sol Blade. After a while, Garet noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye. He tossed Jenna the Mars Djinni Ash as he investigated the disturbance. He heard a squeak from the small creature. It had been awakened from its hibernation by the torches. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He picked up the fire djinni, which quickly took to him. He put set it and returned to the battle. Another five minutes of fighting was beginning to wear out not only the Elemental but the group as well. The spellcasters were running out of Psynergy, and the warriors were getting tired from the fight. Finally, Garet decided to take his new djinni for a test drive. "Go!" The djinni apeared, and the temperature rose. A fiery bird filled the room. It channeled all the fire into a stream of raw power. The Luna Elemental flew back, dazed. Garet smiled. Felix looked over. "Where the hell did you get that from?" "Over there." He pointed to the spot where the creature had been found. "And you didn't tell us this earlier?" "Umm. Surprise?" The massive Elemental stirred. Felix raised his sword again. Everyone charged, slashing and cutting at the massive beast. The body parts fell off and were absorbed into the Luna Blade, making it stronger. Finally, the entire thing had been absorbed. "Erm, that was it?" "I guess." Garet re-set all his djinni, as did everyone else. They gathered their posessions and left after scouring the area for any other djinni. None were found, but they were satisfied with the booty they had. 


	4. June

Wednesday, June 1st.  
  
They had reached the port town after lunch. The rest of the boat storage fee had been paid off, and they decided to sleep at the inn. Iodem had in fact taken his ship, but left the ballistae and ammo for the others. Mia bought more Vials and Garet loaded up the ship. They had bought more ballista bolts, and Garet had bought some lumber from the General Store. Everything was loaded on the ship, and they were sitting by the fireplace in the inn. Garet was busy adding shelves and storage racks in both boats, with the help of Felix, Picard, and Alex. Isaac and the others were loading the other items on the ship. They were deciding how the bunking would work out. "Well, Felix will want his ship again. Isaac will probably ride there, as the djinni like to stay together. Rachael will probably join them as well" Jenna said. "Garet and myself will be there too." "Okay. That leaves Alex, Mia, Fiezhi, Ivan, Sheba, and me for my ship." "What about the animals?" "Well, Fang can go on Felix's ship. I'll take in Feather." "All right. So it is settled." They recommenced the work until dinner.  
  
  
  
Thursday, June 2nd.  
  
"Wake up. We want to start sailing early." Ivan was going room to room making sure everyone was awake. They set sail at nine o'clock. Picard was steering the ship on the course for North. The weapons and armour had been neatly stored in Garet's racks, and the bench he had made on the previous voyage was still there. Ivan and Sheba were sitting on it when Sheba heard a low crack. "It's hatching!" Sheba cried. They unset their djinn and everyone gathered around. After a few minutes, the baby djinni was up and about. "What are you going to name it?" Ivan asked her. "Well, I'm not sure. How about Io?" "Io sounds good." He smiled. "Thanks Ivan." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love it." "Well," Garet interrupted, "I'll be up in the crow's nest if you need me." He left the room.  
  
"Hey Ivan! Sheba! Come here for a second!" The two Jupiter Adepts exited the kitchen area. "What is it?" "Look around! Fog everywhere! I could use your help clearing it out!" "Fine." He and Sheba unleashed all their djinni that had some sort of wind effect. The fog began to part. "What's that?! Hey everyone! Come out!" The rest of those in the cabins were soon out on the decks. "Felix! Slow the ship down!" Isaac yelled. "We should check the island out!" Both ships slowed down and carefully pulled up into a small natural harbour. After several hours of scouring the immediate vicinity, the group decided it was relatively safe, although they kept a vigilant guard throughout the night.  
  
  
  
Friday, June 3rd.  
  
A more extensive survey of the area was taking place. Several small creatures had been found, and Garet was even attacked by one. It was effortlessly disposed of and the survey continued. Lunch was being eaten aboard Picard's ship. A deafening growl threw everyone to their feet. "What was that?" Garet asked as he left the room. The others were close behind. "Holy crap! Another Elemental!" Alex shouted as he unsheathed his Luna Blade. Felix grabbed his Sol Blade from the table and appeared next to Alex. "The Sol Elemental?! That's why we didn't fight it when we found the Sol Blade!" The monster growled again. "I have been hunting you down since you disturbed my slumber!" Garet rolled his eyes. "We've heard this speech before. We know. Our lives are now forfeit to the light, right?" Yet another growl shook the ground. The legion leapt off the ship and prepared to fight. "You have faced a Luna Elemental?" Alex gave a smile as he raised his Luna Blade. "We defeated the beast. Now, we will destroy you!" Garet readied his Dragon Axe as Isaac showed his Gaia Blade. The earth began to shake even more. "What the heck?" The ground split, and another elemental appeared. It was brown, and had bushes for eyebrows. It's arms and legs were made of trees, while the torso and head were solid rock. "Aww, crap. Alex, Felix and I will get rid of the Sol Elemental. You guys get that thing." Garet nodded at Isaac in acknowledgment. "I am the Venus Elemental! You stole the sword from my sacred lighthouse!" Alex didn't wait for the beast to finish talking. He began to attack the Sol Elemental when his Luna Blade began to shake and howl. A black light shot out and took the form of the Luna Elemental. Mia yelled, "Now we have to fight three of them!" Picard looked over. "No, we don't. The Luna Elemental is on out side! It is the Luna Blade! Alex can summon the Luna Elemental now!" The Sol Elemental and the Luna Elemental began exchanging blows. All three Elementals were ten feet tall and very muscular. Alex, Isaac, and Felix joined the Luna Elemental in the assault as the others began to attack the Venus Elemental.  
  
The blows dealt by both the Luna and Sol Elementals shook the ground. "Ground!" Isaac's djinni kept the Sol Elemental from attacking. The final blows were dealt to the Sol Elemental, and it began to glow. Felix's Sol Blade began to glow as well, and the light from the Elemental was absorbed into the sword. The Luna Elemental returned to Alex's sword as well. All three turned to the Venus Elemental. Ivan and Jenna had been keeping it paralyzed so they were safe. The paralysis was wearing off. "Maple!" Felix's djinni appeared, and the Elemental's movements were slowed greatly. Sheba was getting tired. "Eagle!" The djinni came forth and began a furious assault on the beast. After another minute, the beast finally fell. It emitted a brown light, as did the Gaia Blade. The sword absorbed the Elemental and gained the third Elemental.  
  
After a small rest, Garet, Picard, Mia, Ivan, Alex, and Sheba began to wander around the island more. It was only a half-mile in diameter, so they weren't afraid of getting lost. After an hour of wandering, they came across a circle of stones. In the center of the circle was a large rock, impaled by a long sword. "Those are Lemurian Runes on that sword!" Picard said. "Wait." Alex took out the Lemurian Blade Picard had given him. "They are almost identical to these." He handed the sword back to Picard. "I have a nice one now. No offense." "None taken." He walked up to the blade imbedded in the stone. "Yup. They are the same runes, just in a different order." "Pull it out," Garet suggested. "Is that a good idea?" "Come on, Mia. You are always so cautious." "Well, did you already forget those three Elementals we fought? It wasn't more than three hours ago!" "Oh, yeah. But we can handle anything. We have three Elementals on our side." "Fine. But if we have to fight anything, I'm going to slap you so hard." "Chill out." "Watch who you are talking to! I'll put you into a nice quiet ice block!" Alex sighed. "Will you two ladies please stop?" Garet gave a scolding glance but stopped talking. Picard walked up to the sword hilt. "Here goes nothing." He pulled as hard as he could. It budged some, but didn't come out all the way. Garet walked up to it. "You need to use your legs. Like this." He grasped the hilt and pulled as hard as he could. His grip slipped and he fell on his back. Mia laughed. "Loser." "You're lucky I don't want to hurt you." "You're lucky I don't want a Garet-cicle." "All of us need to pull at once" Alex interrupted. "Fine. I'll do it, but only because Picard wants this sword so badly." "Thanks." They all got whatever grip they could on the sword and pulled. The rock gave way and fell in half, freeing the sword. Mia looked at the rock. "Are those...?" "Djinn? Yup. Mercury Djinn too." "And they have been trapped in that rock?" "Apparently." "They must have been lonely." Mia picked up the six djinn. Garet paused. "I remember I found a djinni when we fought the Luna Elemental. These would have been more useful earlier today." "Well. We have the fourth Legendary Artifact. The Ancient Lemurian Rune Blade" Picard said happily. "Can we go back to the ship? This is boring" Sheba said. "Fine." They started off, Picard putting the sheath of his new sword around his back.  
  
When they finally returned to the two ships, Ivan looked at Picard's sword oddly. "New toy." Mia glanced over. "So are these," she said as she revealed two djinn. Picard and Alex did so as well. "Ah. That's why the Elementals were here." He rushed over to Picard's Ship and came out with two long scrolls. On one were several lists.  
  
Dragon Set ~Dragon Helm ~Dragon Scales ~Dragon Shield ~Dragon Axe ~Dragon Hammer  
  
Samurai Set ~Katar ~Samurai Sword ~Samurai Armour  
  
Elemental Weapons ~Rune Blade ~Sol Blade ~Luna Blade ~Gaia Blade ~Flame Blade ~Aerial Blade ~Aqua Blade  
  
Elementals ~Sol Elemental ~Luna Elemental ~Venus Elemental ~Mars Elemental ~Jupiter Elemental ~Mercury Elemental  
  
Most of the list was still rolled up in the rest of the scroll. Ivan put a small mark next to the Rune Blade with a small piece of coal. He walked over to the Mercury Adepts and opened the second scroll. "How many did you get?" "Six. We haven't figured out their names nor their abilities yet though," Alex responded. "All right." He marked six tallies on the second scroll and left to the ship. He placed the scrolls in a shelf where he kept maps and other items. He had an extensive collection of papers of different sorts, thanks to his time with Master Hammet.  
  
  
  
Saturday, June 4th.  
  
The ships set sail early that morning. They wanted all the time they could spare to sail in order to get as far as possible. After three hours, the group was blazing along at 30 knots. When lunch was complete, Garet began his workout. Isaac had his post in the crow's nest, so he had time to do what he wanted. All of the djinn had been given a large area below decks to live in. Since they lived off raw elemental power, they didn't need food. The new djinni was maturing, and they had figured out what the seven newest djinn unleashed in battle. Io was able to locate nearby Jupiter Djinni, which would help them out a lot. Fathom, one of the six Mercury Djinn they found, brings forth a massive column of water from any aquatic body. Flood brings about a sea of water from the ocean. The water rolls across any terrain and washes enemies away. Coral summons a thick wall of coral to protect everyone from damage. Ripple sends waves of water at enemies in a sphere around the Adept unleashing it. Tundra makes the outside temperatures plummet below freezing, allowing for a slick fighting surface on water if one so desires. Rainbow clears the battlefield of any enemy global spells, evening the battle out.  
  
Picard sensed something different beneath the waves while using the Psynergetic Amplifier as a sonar device. He and Felix stopped the ships. "It seemed like a cave." "A cave? But how do you plan to get down that deep?" Garet asked him. "Well, I was hoping Ivan and Sheba could focus their energies and make me a bubble to breathe with." "It might work. But why do you want to want to go down there?" "I sensed some Mercury elements." "Well, in case you haven't noticed, we are on an ocean." Picard gave Garet a scolding look. "I can tell water from Mercury elements." He told Ivan and Sheba his plan. "I'm not sure we can hold it for very long." "I know. It'll only take thirty minutes." "Well, okay." He and Sheba began to mediate, and Picard saw a shimmer of light around him. He ran over to the edge of the ship and leapt off. Not a drop of water touched him. He concentrated, and projected his thoughts to Ivan and Sheba. They lowered him to the cave, and Picard guided the bubble through, with a little help from Match, one of Jenna's djinn that he was borrowing.  
  
He came to a massive cavern. It was filled with air, so he was able to breathe. He used Garet's djinni Fuse to help light a torch he brought with him. In the cavern he could see a thirty-foot tall carving of a Mercury Djinni on the wall. Between the djinni's legs was a solid ice door. Picard telepathically told Ivan and Sheba that everything was safe so far and to bring down Garet, Felix, Mia, and Jenna. After another twenty minutes, the four were all in the cavern. Picard returned the borrowed djinn to their owners. "Garet. I need you to melt that ice for me." "Sounds like fun." He cast several Pyroclasms, and then assaulted the block with a series of Infernos. The door lay as a pile of water and the hole that was left was big enough to fit a person through. They entered the adjacent room.  
  
Picard's mouth gaped open in delight. There, in a beam of blue light, floated the Aqua Blade. Before doing anything, the group scoured the area for djinn. They found two Jupiter Djinn and three Venus Djinn. The djinn were equipped and Picard carefully approached the sword. "Get ready to run. I want to fight the Elemental with the others." Everyone nodded in agreement. Picard got in position and placed one hand on the sword. He pulled, and the weapon easily gave way. It exited the beam of light, and the five ran. Ivan and Sheba, with some help from the others still on the ships, managed to bring up all five Adepts at once. They landed on the ship, and turned around. Picard handed Mia the Aqua Blade to use as a side arm, much like Ivan has his Kusanagi. The water began to bubble, and the waves became erratic in pattern. The expected blue Elemental shot out of the water and stood on the open ocean. "You have disturbed my-" Garet didn't let the speech continue. He buried his axe into the left leg of the creature and knocked the right leg out from under it. Garet landed in the water, but was able to swim back to the boat. Picard leapt off the deck of the Lemurian ship and imbedded his Rune Blade in the beast's chest. Feather swooped around, clawing at the Elemental's back and flying away. Alex's Luna Blade began to glow, and he pointed the blade just above the Mercury Elemental's head. The Luna Elemental appeared above the water creature and fell, crushing it under its weight. Isaac was busy attacking with Ragnarok, as Felix punished it with his djinn. Sheba and Ivan kept it suspended above the water and open to attack with Tornados. After only a minute, the creature had been absorbed into Mia's Aqua Blade. The Luna Elemental returned as well. Everyone was satisfied with the day's prizes. Felix had given Isaac two of the three Venus Djinn, and Jenna had given Ivan and Sheba the Jupiter Djinn that they had found.  
  
After dinner that night, Isaac was sitting with Rachael in the cabin they shared. "I want to try something" Isaac revealed. "Okay. What is it?" Isaac took off Harvest and handed the djinni to Rachael. "Try to set it to yourself." "But I thought only Adepts could use djinni." "I know, but you have learned some Psynergies, so you can technically be considered an Adept." "Okay." She concentrated hard on the small djinni. It glowed, but the light soon dimmed. "It's hopeless. I can't." "Come on." Isaac grasped her hand comfortingly. "Just visualize it setting." "If you say so." She closed her eyes, and the djinni began to glow again. It was still dim, but began to glow a bit brighter. Then, it leapt at Rachael's chest. It disappeared with a small flash of light. "It worked!" "Good. Maybe in a few weeks, we can start to add more djinn." "One is good for now." She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  
  
  
  
Monday, June 6th.  
  
Excerpt from the diary of Sheba.  
  
There was this weird wind that blew us all off course yesterday. It was a cold wind, and then this weird purple light surrounded us. We ended up on Hesperia! We're not sure, but Ivan and I think Thor and Atlanta have been helping us with our quest. They know what kind of threat the Fire Clan of the North is, and they are making sure that we have a chance to fight them and win. What else do the Gods know?  
  
  
  
Tuesday, June 7th.  
  
The group had been traversing Hesperia for a day. With the help of the djinn, the Aerial Blade was found and the fifth elemental was found and defeated. Sheba kept the new weapon at her hip. When they were getting ready to turn back, Ivan remembered something. "Isn't there supposed to be djinn around here?" "Yeah. We should find some before we leave" Felix said. After a short search, the group found what they were looking for. The Mars Djinn Acid and Torrid were located, as were the Venus Djinn Grove, Crag, and Golem. The Jupiter Djinn Hawk and Harlequin were located on a ledge by a mountain cave, and several Mercury Djinn were found also. They made their way back to the ship, and when they set sail, another odd wind began to blow. "All right. Now, we go to the frozen northland" Jenna said matter-of- factly. "We still have all the fur clothing we bought in that town, right?" Garet asked. "Yup. And we'll need all of it" Picard said. "It drops to thirty below sometimes." "THIRTY?!" Garet spat out, barely able to hold back his emotions. "Can't we just leave this one unlit?" Isaac sighed. "Just think exactly who you are asking this question." Garet sighed even louder than Isaac's and left for the cabin. The expected purple light appeared, and Picard prepared to locate exactly where they were when it subsided.  
  
  
  
Wednesday, June 8th.  
  
"Only another few hours!" Picard shouted to the others. They had landed closer to the northland than they had expected, furthering Ivan and Sheba's suspicion of divine intervention. Garet grumbled, obviously not happy with the idea of extreme cold. They weren't even very far north yet, but he still felt the chill when he slept.  
  
"Finally" Alex said. The boats had been tied up at the docks, and everyone prepared to enter the main city.  
  
"Noo!" An unknown man rushed up to Garet when he saw the runes on his weapons and shield. Garet looked at him, puzzled by his behavior. "I have not the money you have come for. I will have it by tomorrow's dawn. Spare me, please! Save the wrath of the Fire Clan for an enemy soldier!" The man said, still cowering at Garet's feet. "What are you talking about? I'm not of the Fire Clan." "But you bear the arms and armour of the Fire Clan's soldiers" the man said, easing his cowering a little. "We have collected these weapons on our journey." "Then you have come to save us, as the prophecy had foretold!" Sheba was startled by the word 'prophecy'. "What prophecy?" she asked him. "The one our elder had seen in his dreams. He said an army would come and defeat the Fire Clan and return this country to its people." "Bring us to this elder."  
  
After a short walk, the party entered a potion shop. The man said something to the lady behind the counter, and her face brightened up. She went to the large rug on the wall and pulled it down. The aroma of incense filled the rest of the room, and she motioned them in. "I am the elder of FrostyIce Dale. These people believe you are here to fight for the city." "We are here to light the Mars Lighthouse" Picard said. "Ah. So my dreams were true." "Yes. But why are you so scared of the Fire Clan? We already killed twenty members at least" Ivan said, not ashamed but still not proud of the acts. "Twenty?! Impressive. But they have an easy five score more in their castle, which was built around your lighthouse." Garet spat a curse at the Fire Clan. "We must get to that lighthouse." Picard looked over. "The world depends on it." Everyone looked at him oddly. "Explain" Mia said. "Well, I already told you about the balance of the elements. But there was something I left out. The entire Earth is in danger." "What?!" everyone gasped. "The elements have been slowly decaying. I fear only another decade will be left without the lighthouses. The supply a limitless amount of elemental power, and the Earth needs this power to survive." No one made a sound. "He is right. The end is near. The Gods have decided it is not time for the Earth to end." Sheba looked up. "That is why I was born. And why we are here." The elder looked at Sheba, puzzled. "According to the legend of my home town, I was found. I fell to the Earth from the heavens." "A child of the Gods?! Miraculous! Well, if you intend on taking on the entire Fire Clan, I suggest you all get an elemental. The Fire Elemental is an hour's walk from here. The cave has been sealed by a wall of ice." "We will get it easily" Garet said confidently. "We already have the other five." "This one is much more powerful. It has nested by this lighthouse for centuries. Its strength has been increased by much." Garet smiled. "No problem."  
  
They set off right after that. After a cold walk, they found the cave. Garet assaulted the blockade with a fireball, which easily melted the wall. The soldiers that had joined them were impressed. "Let's see. First, we find all the djinn we can." After the search, they had found all the djinn in the cave. Jenna walked up to the sword, suspended in the fiery red light of Mars. She grasped the handle firmly, and pulled. It came out of the light easily, and everyone ran out to open battleground. The ground shook, and the Mars Elemental came out of its cave. Alex, Isaac, Felix, Mia, and Sheba pointed their swords around the elemental. The five lights; purple, black, white, blue, and brown; shot out and took the forms of the elementals. The quintuple-sided assault began, and the Mars elemental was quickly worn down. Everyone else soon joined the attack. Even the mercenaries, who were quite brave seeing as how inexperienced they were, helped in the attack. The Elemental was quickly felled, and all the elementals returned to their respective swords. But the swords began to glow once again. "Wha-?" Garet began. The swords continued to glow, and the lights shot out of them. The came to the ground, and then disappeared. Where they landed on the ice were six small glass figurines, each glowing the color of the element that they came from. They kept the same shape as the elementals: thick arms and strong legs. The differences in the elementals showed; the Venus Elemental still had the tree-branch eyebrows, while the Mars Elemental had the fiery mane along its back. "Elemental Summons?" Isaac asked. "Yup. And we don't use djinn for them, or our swords. We use these" Picard responded. "Well, we have to get back" one mercenary said. "All right." With newfound vigor, the battalion rushed back to FrostyIce Dale in half the time. They were in the inn, ready to sleep for a night before they left the next day.  
  
  
  
Thursday, June 9th.  
  
They were already up earlier than expected. The soft beds at the inn gave them a deep, restful sleep. They had already eaten and were at the elder's place to begin their journey.  
  
"With you I would like to send our best soldier. The Fire Clan has taken our best soldiers for the past hundred years, but we were able to keep them from taking one family of warriors. They posed as merchants, so the Fire Clan never suspected them. He is trained in every weapon, but prefers the duel scimitars." Picard's face brightened with the mention of the sword. A sturdy young man entered the room with two scimitars in his belt. "I am honoured to join you. My name is Xavier." "Good to have you" Picard said, eyes fixed on the finely crafted blades at his hips. "Another thing" the elder began. "I have been saving these ever since I had the first dream." He pulled out two green glowing stones. "These are emerald stones. I have put in a special Psynergetic incantation in them." "What kind of incantation?" Jenna asked. "You will find out when the time is right." "Okay." She took the two stones, which were set in two beautiful necklaces. She looked around at the others. "Who will get them?" Sheba thought for a second. "How about Rachael and Fiezhi? They might need them, as they don't have any offensive Psynergies." "That's good logic" Mia said. Jenna handed them over, and the two ladies put them on. "You must get going. You will want as much daylight to travel. Xavier knows the land well." "Thanks" Isaac said. "No. Thank you. You alone will be able to purge the evils that have desecrated this land."  
  
After several hours of traveling, Garet was already getting bored. From behind a snow mound, they heard a shrill cry. "What was that?" Picard said, Rune Blade in hand. Isaac stayed calm. "Ice Gargoyle. Or some relative of it. Remember those from Venus Lighthouse?" Xavier already had his scimitars ready. "Frost Gargoyle. Only around in the frozen northland." "Are they strong?" Garet asked hopefully. "Kind of." "Great!" Garet ran over to the top of the hill and stopped. The others followed. "It's being attacked!" "Those other things are Ice Nightmares. They are the main cause of people disappearing on this road." "Yee haw!" Garet leapt down, followed right behind by Fang. Sheba and Ivan mounted Feather and began an ascent. The three Jupiter masters attacked the disgusting creatures furiously. Garet bashed several around with his hammer while everyone else attacked different ones. Xavier swung his two curving blades around and gracefully minced a Nightmare before it even hit the ground. After merely a minute, all of the creatures had been defeated. Only the Frost Gargoyle remained. Mia cautiously walked up to it. "Ivan! Sheba! Come here real quick!" Feather landed and the two dismounted. "What is it?" "You think this would be useful against the Fire Clan's army?" "Sure." Sheba closed her eyes and began to read all of the beast's memories. Then she put in new memories of being with the group. Ivan gave Fang and Feather memories of having the Gargoyle in their party. "Done." The Gargoyle calmly went up to Mia and acted like it knew her for years. Xavier just stared at them in awe. "Nice little trick we Jupiter Adepts have" Ivan said.  
  
The group slept with ease. Xavier, using the features of the land, determined that they were already three fourths of the way to the castle. Again they set guards throughout the night.  
  
  
  
Friday, June 10th.  
  
The group was nearing the castle. Picard had noticed Xavier had left for several minutes the night before. He didn't think much of it though, as most people had to go to the bathroom often. "It's time. If I'm not mistaken, they usually have their main force at the main gate where the barracks is. And they usually keep a legion in the woods over there." He pointed off to the left of where they were. The peered over the hill they were on. The top of the hill was flat and big enough for everyone to fit on. They weren't more than a mile from the main gate, but everything was oddly calm. They could see a fire burning in the distance. "We can take care of them easily" Garet said with a sly grin. "Elementals?" Picard asked. "Yup. Now, is everyone ready?" Everyone nodded. "Now." The six elementals were summoned and told what was to happen. Suddenly, Xavier leapt and ran. "You'll never beat us! The Fire Clan will destroy you all!" "Traitor!" Ivan yelled, but it was too late. He would be at the gate in four minutes. "Never mind him. We have a job to do. Elementals! Continue!" Garet said. The six hulks lumbered away toward the bare woods. Garet noticed something happening at the gate. Four score of Mars Adepts had assembled and were charging the hill the party was on. "It's time! Fuel! Thermo! Spice!" The three djinn appeared and cleared the battlefield of all the ice and snow. Felix unsheathed his Sol Blade. "Grove! Timber!" The djinn caused a massive increase in the growth of all the foliage Garet had exposed. Rachael stepped back and concentrated hard. "Harvest!" The djinn cut down all the foliage to an even level.  
  
The Fire Clan continued their approach. They began to attack with different Psynergies. Flames engulfed the team. Water shot out of the flames and the fire was quickly put out. Bodies began to fly out of the woods, and fleeing warriors exited the forest. They joined the charging army when they saw what was happening. The Elementals were right behind them. With only punches the Elementals took down several Adepts at a time. Mia, Jenna, Sheba, Ivan, and Rachael backed off and began casting Psynergies. Fang, Feather, and the Ice Gargoyle formed a protective shield for the spell casters. Fiezhi and Rachael grabbed the emerald necklaces and threw them to the ground. From the glowing green light came two Grand Golems, which also helped protect the spell casters. Fiezhi decided it would be best to stay with the creatures, as they could back her up and she wouldn't be in the way of the fighters. "Now!" Garet hollered. Isaac's endless Ragnarok assault impaled Adept after Adept. Felix cut down every Adept that got to the top of the hill, as did Alex and Picard. Garet summoned Bahamut, the Golden Dragon. Suddenly, a wave of fire flew up the hill. The flame ran into everyone. Jenna was knocked nearly unconscious, as was Sheba. Garet's rage surfaced within him. All ten of the Fire Clan's djinn knew the raw power within him. They left the Adept's they were on, and Garet received ten new Mars Djinn. Ash and General unleashed themselves, and all of Jenna's and Sheba's djinn went to Garet. Io stayed with Sheba, as Sheba had raised it herself. Everyone else except Ivan gave Garet their djinn. The power plowing through Garet was enormous. His Dragon Set began to glow, and all of the Fire Clan recognized the items. Both fear and anger overwhelmed the Army of the Fire Clan. The all ignored everyone else and charged straight for Garet. Garet let out an inhuman roar, and the sky turned crimson. "Meteor Shower!" Meteors bigger than the ones that are summoned by djinn fell from the sky, crushing and incinerating Adepts and leaving massive craters. Lightning struck the ground, and the emblem of Thor appeared. The massive god appeared, and with him was Atlanta. "You dare even consider striking my child?!" The godly warrior hollered. "You will pay for your misdeeds!" Dragons of fire and ice flew in from the distance, attacking the warriors of the Fire Clan. Atlanta flew up into the sky and took her Mithril Bow, which was decorated with gold at the ends. The pulled back, and an arrow of light appeared. The fired and impaled the leader of the army. Thor entered the fray, swinging his hammer wildly at Adepts. Judgment, who had appeared, slammed into the ground, squashing several warriors. His lion-head hand began shooting blasts, incinerating soldiers in the line of fire.  
  
But not even that could prepare them for the wrath of Garet.  
  
Garet leapt from the hill, axe in one hand, hammer in the other. Ivan used all his djinn keeping him in the air. Garet flew through the air, severing body parts and shattering bones. Once Ivan depleted his strength, he laid down. Garet rolled on the ground and was up on his feet, swinging his axe and hammer around. Ivan's djinn joined Garet, and his movements became even faster. As his axe came down across the face of one Adept, his hammer knocked another's head clean off. All the Adepts swarmed around Garet, more afraid of him than the gods themselves. Garet ripped and tore through the Adepts, leaving nothing in his wake but death and blood. Garet's axe shredded through a man's chest and entered another on the same swing. The Elementals were still pounding Adepts, while the creatures had entered the fray. Feather had swiftly flew straight through someone's chest, while Fang had clawed out a man's heart and lungs. The Ice Gargoyle was busy slicing through Adept's with its sword, and the two Grand Golems were punching with the Elementals. Atlanta continued her aerial assault, while Thor began to attack with electricity. Garet's axe came down on another Adept, taking his head clean off. Phoenix then decided it was time to fight. The djinni unleashed herself, and the great Phoenix appeared around Garet. The flames shot out at soldiers, and only charred bones, swords, and armour was left. The flesh just burned away. After twenty minutes, only nine Fire Clan warriors remained, while not one of the party was injured after the gods showed up. Even Thor was impressed with Garet's fighting ability. Never before had he seen anyone fight with such passion and power. The sky returned to its normal color, and the gods returned to the heavens.  
  
The battlefield was littered with bodies. The small stream that ran by the site was red with blood. Not one soldier had been able to retreat to the fortification around the Mars Lighthouse.  
  
The survivors were bound and interrogated. Then Xavier charged from the trees when Garet wasn't looking. "I think not!" Picard shouted, slamming his foot into Xavier's chest. The man fell to the ground, but got up quickly. "I can easily defeat you, Picard." "Like hell you can." He unsheathed both the Lemurian Blade and the Rune Blade, while Xavier's scimitars appeared in his hands. Picard charged. Xavier's scimitars sprung down in a double-cross parry, but Picard's foot his him square in the chest again. This time, Xavier attacked, but Picard was pissed. He hopped to the side and thrust his Rune Blade into the thigh of the warrior. His Lemurian Blade came up quick to finish the job, slicing through Xavier's neck and decapitating the traitorous man. Picard, after spitting on the pathetic corpse, pulled his sword out and collected the two scimitars.  
  
Isaac and Felix were gathering all of the weapons, armour, and shields that were strewn across the battlefield and putting them in a safe hiding place.. The bodies were thrown in a large pile, not worthy of being buried. They were left to the wolves of the night. Fang had a feast, and Isaac didn't care that his pet was eating the corpses of people. They were the Fire Clan. Not humans. Humans had hearts.  
  
Jenna stirred. Garet was next to her with Mia, setting djinn and using different potions and remedies. She was out for more than an hour. Sheba awakened not long before. "Garet. What happened?" "Easy there. You rest." He gave her another blanket. "You just keep sleeping." "How is everyone?" "Everyone is fine. No one got hurt. Well, none of us got hurt." He chuckled to himself. "Now, close our eyes and go to sleep."  
  
Isaac and Felix had made a hidden set of traps using holes they dug and swords. Garet made a large fire around the entire encampment to keep away anything. He had also returned everyone else's djinn, as he had all of them but one.  
  
  
  
Saturday, June 11th.  
  
They had practiced what they would do several times that morning. They were ready to do what they had to.  
  
Garet's Dragon Hammer came smashing into the thick wooden doors of the outside wall of the fort. The wood splintered, and he walked in through the seven-foot hole. Isaac, Jenna, and Sheba entered behind him, followed by the nine prisoners-of-war, their hands bound behind their backs. The others entered after them.  
  
The streets were filled with merchants, peasants, and slaves. Shouts of joy erupted from them as they saw the nine captured soldiers. They knew what had transpired.  
  
Garet led the group to the inner gate. His hammer bore down on the massive iron doors, and one fell from its hinges. The other swung open wildly. A posse of fifteen soldiers sprang out of the guardhouse. They bore different emblems than the rest of the Fire Clan. "Hmm. Ivan. Come here real quick." Ivan appeared next to Garet. "What's up?" "Are these people who I think they are?" "Hold on." After closing his eyes for a second, he smiled. "Mercenaries. Only paid fifty gold too." "Good." He turned to the apparent leader of the band. "We both know that if you even try to hinder us, we'll beat the crap out of you. But I have a proposition. Oh, is one thousand gold enough for your loyal services?" He nodded to Isaac, and Isaac tossed the money to Garet, who handed it to the mercenaries. The mercenary leader spoke up. "Yes. Of course. We are yours to command." "Good. Come with us, and keep an eye on these nine prisoners." He led them through the castle, trying to find the throne room. After a short search, they found the room. Garet, as expected, knocked down the door with his hammer. They entered the room, which was over twenty feet wide and another thirty long. The walls were an easy ten feet from Garet's head. In it was a long table, and at the end of it sat the king's throne with his highness in it. "What is the meaning of this?!" The Fire Clan king shouted. "Shut up! These nine are all that remain of your army! Now, we are here for the lighthouse, and to dethrone you. You can stand down, or die" Garet said coldly. "Guards!" Ten men in fine chain mail and brandishing finely crafted swords and shields entered the room from side doors. They did not have the normal lizard-like skin of the rest of the Fire Clan, giving Garet the impression that they were mercenaries as well. Garet raised one hand and hit the closest guardsman with a fireball. The man flew back, clutching the gaping hole in his chest. The other nine guards ran back to the safety of the side rooms. "Come out, or we shall purge you from your hideaways one by one!" Garet commanded. Almost against their will, the nine reappeared. "Join our ranks against this tyranny, or perish like the rest of these monsters. We offer fine wages, as well as your own lives." The nine soldiers lined up with the other mercenary group that had been hired. They were happy to be rid of their other master, and even happier to be alive. "Get back here you fools! I am the one who conquered this frozen wasteland!" The king shouted. "Pathetic. Now, about the lighthouse. How will we be getting into it?" "I'll never tell you!" "Ivan?" "The key is hidden in the left armrest of the throne." "Too kind." "What?! How did you know?!" Garet advanced to the throne and grabbed the king by his robe. He threw him to the right, and brought out his hammer. He smashed the throne to small marble bits and picked up the key lying on the ground. "You'll never get to the lighthouse!" the enraged king shouted, pulling out a dagger. He rushed at Garet, but Garet was ready. He jumped on the rubble of the throne, and leapt up. His foot his the king squarely in the face, snapping his neck in half. The lifeless body flew back and hit the wall. "Now he is with the rest of he Fire Clan." He led the group out toward the back gate of the castle, where one can go to enter the final part of the castle: the lighthouse.  
  
"Hey, Ivan. I need your help" Garet said quietly as they were closing in on the entrance to the lighthouse. "What is it?" "I need you to tell me if you can sense anyone by that door." "Hold on." Ivan closed his eyes for a second. "Yup. Two of them. One has a spear, and the other has a sword. The guy with the spear is on the right." "Thanks. Now, stay here. All I need is Fang, and for you to make a mirage thingy of me." The fenrir jumped at the sound of its name and came up next to Garet. Ivan closed his eyes, and a duplicate of Garet appeared next to him. "Weird. That's what I look like? I need a haircut." "It won't last long, so we don't have time for you to think about your fashion problems." A few laugh came from the small battalion behind them. "Okay, Ivan. Have it walk to the entrance and stand between the two guards." "All right." The apparition moved, and a spear was thrown at it. A Fire Adept with the green skin of the Fire Clan rushed over to the spear as Garet entered the doorway. The spear was lodged in the other Adept's chest, and the barbed end was hooked around the man's spine. The Adept was pulling as hard as he could to dislodge the weapon, and the Adept that was impaled was screaming in pain. Finally, the uninjured man grabbed the other's sword and turned in time to see Garet jump in the air. He hidden dagger in his boot tore through the boot sole and bore itself into the unsuspecting Adept's head. Fang finished off the other man with a strong swipe of its huge paw.  
  
"It's safe." The rest of the group, still with the POWs they captured, walked into the room. The ghostly figure of Garet vanished, its mission complete. The rest of the lighthouse was clear, save a few monsters that managed to get into the structure. These were easily dealt with, and the Lighthouse Aerie was soon reached. "Stand back everyone" Isaac instructed. "I'm not sure what will happen." Everyone got onto the elevator to the bottom as Isaac prepared to throw in the Mars Star, the last Elemental Star they had left.  
  
"I think not."  
  
Isaac spun around to face one of the Fire Clan warriors they had captured. Somehow, he had gotten out of his bonds and freed the other eight without the others knowing. Isaac turned and hurled the sphere into the lighthouse, then ran and hopped on the platform.  
  
"WAIT! WE'RE NOT FINISHED!" The platform reached the ground after a minute- long descent. Everyone rushed out of the castle, and then left the town to the open field. Four small dragons, all fused Fire Clan soldiers, flew overhead and landed on the same hill the group had used in their attack. The twenty-four mercenaries stood strong, clutching their swords. A volley of spears erupted from the mercenaries from the gate, and a dragon fell down, a spear plunged in its heart. The Adept that had so boldly talked to Isaac leapt off the dragon he was riding. "You cannot defeat us. We are the almighty Fire Clan, the Dragonmen of the north. Sheba shocked the fool with a bolt of lightning. "And I am Sheba, child of the gods Thor and Atlanta, Jupiter Adept, and Thunder Sage." The man cringed at the mention of the gods. "I am Garet, Bearer of the Dragon Armament, Inferno Warrior, and really pissed off." With that he threw his dagger, catching the Lizard-Man in the arm. "I am Picard, weapons master of the Royal House of Lemuria, Wielder of the Rune Blade and the Lemurian Blade, and slayer of Dragonmen." "I grow tired of these pathetic introductions," the green man said. "When shall we begin fighting?" Felix was atop one of the dragons before the soldier finished his sentence. It spewed fire in a vain attempt to get Felix off, but Felix was relentless. He hacked at the ten-foot tall creature's neck trying to break through the tough scales. He finally found a hit, and a think acidic blood oozed out of the wound. The blood poured onto the dragon's scales, burning through them with ease. "Just get them bleeding!" Felix shouted. "The blood reacts with the air, I think!" Picard was next to Felix, hacking new holes for the blood to pour out of. It ate away at the dragon, and soon there was little of it left. It de- fused back down into two Adepts, bloody and not breathing. Jenna, Mia, Ivan, and Sheba were keeping the third dragon down and unable to move. Mia had summoned a wall of ice to keep it from moving its legs as Ivan and Sheba used wind power to keep it from flight. Jenna was blasting its face with fireball after fireball. Feizhi was slashing at its neck, nearly severing the Jugular with a few near misses. Blood trickled from the beast's mouth. Fang, Feather, and the Ice Gargoyle, which they named Stoneback, had joined in the fray. The three creatures were furiously ripping through the tough hide, and they finally found raw flesh. Blood was show across the battlefield, nearly burning Garet. The dragon fell to the ground, and it de-morphed back into the humans. Garet and Alex were fighting alongside the twenty-four soldiers, hacking at any chance they got. The Dragon Hammer was lodged over the dragon's eye, making it half- blind. The axe had broken several boned and opened up several nasty gashes in the belly of the giant lizard. Soon it fell, and all there was left was Isaac and the lone Fire Clan member.  
  
The two were crashing into each other. The man had knocked a mercenary unconscious and taken his sword. The two weapons sent sparks flying. The entire population had gathered from the town, keeping their distance with good reason. Isaac whistled, and fang quickly had the Dragonman pinned own on his stomach. Isaac rushed up and took back the sword. He tossed it to the now awake soldier and rebound the wrists of their prisoner. He kicked him as hard as he could down the hill, and the lizard-man began to roll. He stopped when a merchant held out his foot and planted it into his chest.  
  
Isaac looked at the mass of peasants. "You can rule yourselves now. The Fire Clan in no more. We will go now." "Wait," spoke the merchant. "We must repay you. Take some wagons and oxen. They will make your journey much easier. And you can take some of the treasure held in this castle. It is the least this grateful city can do." "Thank you." The 24 soldiers and 9 adepts made their way back to the castle, where they slept a well-earned sleep.  
  
  
  
Sunday, June 12th.  
  
The wagons and oxen were ready when the group awoke. The jewels and items the retrieved from the castle were minute compared to all of it in the treasure room. They set off at noon, making a quick trip back to FrostyIce Dale and arriving before dusk.  
  
"You have succeeded. But where is Xavier? Do not tell me he perished" the elder asked. "He was a part of the Fire Clan's army, a spy to help find all the possible soldiers in this town," Picard said. "This is disturbing news indeed. You will stay here tonight. We have prepared your ships, as well as three others for your new companions." "Thank you. We appreciate it."  
  
  
  
  
  
Epilogue  
  
After a close stop at Imil, where Mia retrieved a barrel of Herme's Water, she and Picard went to Lemuria. Mia wanted to compare the healing properties of the water with the life giving propertied of the Mystic Drought, or Lemurian Drought. Alex and Feizhi went to Xian, where Alex began learning how to focus his Ki and Chi simultaneously, increasing the power of both. Sheba, with Faran and the rest of her family, moved to Kalay, where she could be with Ivan. Ivan became a major merchant, and "recruited" animals to help in the defense of the caravans as well as to offer protection from Lunpa. A small empire was begun in Kalay, and the trading of goods is higher than ever was before. Felix, with the help of many workers, constructed Luna Sanctum, where all the Legendary Weapons and Elemental Summoning Figurines were stored with even more complex traps than Sol Sanctum. Luna Sanctum was within Altimer Cave. He then moved to Kalay to help in the trading, as well as to breed djinn on a small farm with help from Ivan and Sheba. Garet moved to Tolbi, where he learned of the passing of Iodem in the battle with the nomads. He became a powerful general, and is known throughout the region for his strength. He brought with him the 24 mercenaries, and they were assimilated into Tolbi's army. Jenna moved with him to Tolbi to study Alchemy and Psynergy. She had the library in the palace opened to Adepts from anywhere. Rachael was very distraught when she learned of Iodem's death, but she was comforted by Isaac, who had become King thanks to Iodem's request. Dora moved down with him from Vale, and because of Kalay's protection of Vale, and treaties between Kalay and Tolbi, people are allowed to move freely about the continent. The people of Lalivero were kept under the protection of Tolbi, but not the same tyranny. They created a small local government and send representatives to Tolbi to tell of their current problems and how they are handling them. Suhulla has done the same. 


End file.
